Bill C-91 (Historical)

Indigenous Languages Act

An Act respecting Indigenous languages

This enactment provides, among other things, that
(a) the Government of Canada recognizes that the rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 include rights related to Indigenous languages;
(b) the Minister of Canadian Heritage may enter into different types of agreements or arrangements in respect of Indigenous languages with Indigenous governments or other Indigenous governing bodies or Indigenous organizations, taking into account the unique circumstances and needs of Indigenous groups, communities and peoples; and
(c) federal institutions may cause documents to be translated into an Indigenous language or provide interpretation services to facilitate the use of an Indigenous language.
The enactment also establishes the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages and sets out its composition. The Office’s mandate and powers, duties and functions include
(a) supporting the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages;
(b) promoting public awareness of, among other things, the richness and diversity of Indigenous languages;
(c) undertaking research or studies in respect of the provision of funding for the purposes of supporting Indigenous languages and in respect of the use of Indigenous languages in Canada;
(d) providing services, including mediation or other culturally appropriate services, to facilitate the resolution of disputes; and
(e) submitting to the Minister of Canadian Heritage an annual report on, among other things, the use and vitality of Indigenous languages in Canada and the adequacy of funding provided by the Government of Canada for initiatives related to Indigenous languages.

Indigenous Languages Act

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear that the Conservative members will be supporting the bill. I note that 2019, by the way, is the International Year of Indigenous Languages, so it is important in this context to discuss this issue.

Several items were identified by my colleague, the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. He pointed out that the government neglected in the bill to incorporate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as part of the bill. The government also neglected to acknowledge the impacts of the sixties scoop and there are other flaws within the bill.

Therefore, when this matter is sent to committee, I wonder whether the Conservatives will work with my colleague on the amendments that are required to make the bill reflect the intent behind it so that it truly acknowledges the indigenous communities, and then to acknowledge their rights as they have been stated and enshrined under the UN declaration.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Madam Speaker, of course our members on the Canadian heritage committee will be looking at the testimony that is presented by witnesses. We always work with our colleagues on all sides of the House to determine ways that we can improve legislation. Therefore, we will very carefully examine any reasonable proposals to amend the bill to make it stronger and more reflective of what the experts say it needs. It would not be doing our jobs as parliamentarians to commit to supporting something that we have not yet seen, and before a single witness has been heard.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member for Chilliwack—Hope was being pressured about getting the bill through the House quickly, and I want to reflect on some of the consultation that I did in the riding of North Okanagan—Shuswap. I toured an indigenous immersion school. The school is having to develop its own books and curriculum and all of its program, but it does not have the funding to do that. That is going to be a big piece of this bill and why we want to take a bit of time to look at it and the costs that could be involved.

I want to have a comment from the member on why we want to really look at the bill.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for North Okanagan—Shuswap for his excellent work representing his communities and for bringing this forward.

All of us are going home at the end of this week to spend a week in our constituencies, and this is a great opportunity for members who represent indigenous communities to engage with them on this very important file, as I know the member has done and I know all of us will want to do. We will take the time necessary to review the legislation and do it the right way.

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg North.

Chi-meegwetch, which means “thank you very much”. I start my remarks in Algonquin, cognizant that I speak today in the House of Commons, which is located on unceded Algonquin territory and also cognizant of this occasion.

Today, I rise to speak in support of Bill C-91, the indigenous languages act. This legislation is the first of its kind in Canadian history. It begins to turn the page on 400 years of colonialism in this country and systematic efforts by successive governments to sever the ties of indigenous people to their mother tongues.

I will start with a preliminary comment, which is that all of us fortunate enough to be elected into this place come here with a sense of purpose or an objective in mind. For me, given my background in human rights and constitutional law, I came here wanting to work on issues that relate to fighting for and promoting equality and inclusion. I had in mind certain policy goals that I wanted to pursue. However, I quickly realized that sometimes in this place, we seek out an issue and sometimes an issue seeks us out. I will explain.

In January, 2017, I was asked by the Prime Minister to serve as the parliamentary secretary to the then minister of heritage. I was then asked by the minister to assist her in the co-development of Canada's first-ever indigenous languages act. I will admit to everyone in this chamber that at first I was very puzzled by this request. I am not a linguist nor am I an expert in anything related to indigenous persons. However, in retrospect, that one request actually changed the direction of my parliamentary career. Why? It is because it simply opened my eyes.

On arrival here, because of my legal background, I fancied myself a pretty knowledgeable fellow about most human rights issues. However, the reality was that I actually knew very little about the plight of indigenous persons on this land. Tasked by the minister to engage with indigenous leaders, elders, teachers and experts right across the country about what they would like to see in the new legislation, I actually learned a great deal. Most of all, I learned about how little I actually knew and had been taught about indigenous persons, their histories, traditions, languages, and most importantly, their trauma. I learned about the size, scope and extent of the residential school system, its pernicious impact on indigenous people in Canada and the lasting trauma it created.

Like many in this chamber, I am a parent. Together with my wife, and like many parents in this diverse country, I try to inculcate a sense of culture and tradition in our own little kids, Zakir and Nitin. As a south Asian household, we made efforts to connect our two little boys to the Indian subcontinent by teaching them some language skills, which in our case is Hindi. While the results have not always been perfect, and I will readily admit that the kids still prefer subtitles when they watch Bollywood films, it has not been for a lack of effort on our part.

Our experience is not any different from countless parents of all different backgrounds around this country, such as Greek, Italian, Arab, Somali, Tibetan, Ukrainian and Polish parents. All parents in this country strive to do much the same in this multicultural nation. However, there is one glaring exception to that list, and that is the experience of indigenous parents and their children in this country, because for indigenous people on this land, their efforts for 150 years to impart their language, and through it their culture, to their children were actively obstructed by the federal state.

The Government of Canada made it a policy to remove their children from their homes and put them in schools, sometimes hundreds of kilometres away, where those kids were forced to assimilate. If they dared speak Algonquin, Cree, Ojibwa, Dene or Inuktitut, they were beaten. That is the horrible legacy of the residential school system in this country. It is a system that was constructed to literally “take the Indian out of the child”.

That is where this legislation comes in. The proposed indigenous languages act has, as its express goal, the objective of supporting, promoting and revitalizing indigenous languages in this country. It is an effort to start the long journey toward restoring the vitality of indigenous languages on this land and reversing the ugly legacy of colonialism.

The teaching of language by any parent in this chamber, by settlers or indigenous persons, is always motivated by the same rationale, that in providing children with language, we connect them to who they are, to their culture. We make them knowledgeable of who they are and where they come from, knowing that in doing so we build up their self-esteem and confidence, and empower them for success. It is so intuitive that we take it for granted that by teaching a child about their culture, they will inevitably do better in terms of their education, economically, and even their health.

However, in my time spent working as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage on the development of this very bill, I also came across empirical evidence. It was so startling that it has stayed with me for well over two years.

We have heard many times in the House about the crisis of mental health and in particular the grave concerns about youth suicide in Canada, particularly indigenous youth suicide.

One study put all of this into very sharp focus. Conducted in British Columbia, the analysts determined that indigenous youth in that province with a conversational knowledge of their indigenous language had a suicide rate of 13 per 100,000, a number well below the provincial average, which includes non-indigenous youth.

However, when the researchers removed indigenous language knowledge from the analysis, the youth suicide rate jumped sixfold, to 96 per 100,000, a number exponentially higher than the provincial average. This amply demonstrates that language knowledge not only connects indigenous youth to their culture but can actually help save lives.

For parliamentarians, there can be no stronger impetus than this for getting on with the critical work of passing this bill into law, yet there are other imperatives that inform this proposed legislation.

For one thing, there are the sentiments expressed to me by my constituents and by people I heard from right across the country. People in Parkdale—High Park told me they want reconciliation not to be simply a symbolic term, but rather one that materializes in concrete legislative action.

As well, there is the sheer weight of the statistics. Some 90 different indigenous languages are spoken in this country, and shockingly, not a single one of them is considered safe by UNESCO. Fully three-quarters of them are critically endangered. In addition, there was a near 50% drop between 1996 and 2011 in the number of indigenous persons in this country who reported knowledge of an indigenous mother tongue. This clearly illustrates the threat to the survival of many languages posed by an aging population of fluent elders.

I can also speak directly to what I heard when I was given the opportunity as parliamentary secretary to engage with indigenous communities across the country. From Halifax to Victoria to the Northwest Territories, what I heard was very similar. It was the sense of rupture, the sense of disconnection from one's culture experienced by so many indigenous persons victimized by the residential school system.

I recall very vividly a meeting in Saskatchewan during which an indigenous man, who may have been about 50 years old, told the group about being forcibly taken from his family and his community at the age of five, and how he was prohibited from speaking his mother tongue. When I asked him what success would look like a few years after legislation came into force, he said to me simply, “Success would be being able to enter the sweat lodge and actually understand the words being spoken by the elders.”

Make no mistake, it is indigenous persons that are the focus of this law. Much discussion has taken place in Canada and in this chamber about raising the awareness of indigenous languages among settler populations in this country through the passage of this bill. While that would be commendable, it remains a secondary, corollary aspect of this proposed legislation. The goal of this bill is not, for example, the promotion of Ojibwa fluency among non-indigenous folks in my riding or in any other riding in this country; the goal of this legislation is and has to be restoring language fluency and capacity among indigenous people in Canada so that indigenous people, by reclaiming their language, can reclaim their culture and overcome that sense of rupture I spoke about, the rupture caused by the official policy of assimilation that characterized the residential school system for 150 years.

This bill also relates to the TRC's calls to action, in particular calls 13, 14 and 15, which call for, among other things, an acknowledgement “that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights.” That is precisely what proposed section 6 of this bill does.

The focus of this bill is also on fulfilling the promise of UNDRIP, a document we as a government have committed to implementing. The UN declaration speaks to the right of self-determination of indigenous peoples, which includes “the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages [and] oral traditions”. That statement is entrenched in the preamble to this proposed legislation.

This is precisely why we took the step of co-developing this proposed legislation with indigenous leaders and national indigenous organizations. The patriarchal days of the federal government telling indigenous people what is best for them are thankfully gone. It is indigenous people who know what is best for indigenous communities, and in this International Year of Indigenous Languages, it is high time we as parliamentarians all started listening to them.

I will conclude where I began. The protection and promotion of indigenous languages is not something that I ever contemplated working on, but it is an issue that found me. I am tremendously grateful for that, because on this journey I have learned that while there are many social justice causes worthy of pursuit in this country, all of them pale in comparison to the obligation we have as parliamentarians to redress the historical injustices perpetuated against indigenous persons on this land over the last 400 years of colonialism. The indigenous languages act is one small but very significant step on the path to reconciliation, and it deserves all of our support.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to the parliamentary secretary, as I do with all hon. members who rise to speak here.

There seems to be great consensus on the spirit of the legislation. We want to move forward and recognize this, but this has to be done correctly. We cannot botch this because we know there are 60 or so indigenous languages to be promoted and protected. That is why we are here in the House of Commons. We will send this bill to parliamentary committee to take a serious look at it. We need to take our time and deal with this properly.

I will speak to this bill later because, with an indigenous community in my riding, I have some things to say. There are more than 100 MPs here with indigenous communities in their ridings and they will have some things to say.

Would the parliamentary secretary agree to allow all those who want to speak to this bill to do so?

Everyone agrees that this is a non-partisan issue, but we must address it properly.

[Arif Virani]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the intervention and comments made by my colleague opposite. I have two things to say in response.

First of all, we drafted this bill in collaboration with indigenous communities. In other words, we have already consulted them. We reviewed this bill very carefully with several indigenous communities from across Canada, including Inuit, Métis and first nations.

Second, our priority is not to simply introduce this bill, but rather we want to make sure it receives royal assent. We have already fallen too far behind when it comes to indigenous peoples. After 400 years of colonialism, we need to get this done as soon as possible.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to especially thank the parliamentary secretary for highlighting the importance of languages in saving lives.

I can testify that I heard from Timmy Masso from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. He is 15. He is a language speaker. He was encouraged to learn his language when his brother, Hjalmer Wenstob, was sick. He was in a health crisis. It was language and prayers that helped to heal Hjalmer. It was not just about preventing suicide, but for health reasons.

Timmy is a great leader in our community. He wants to ensure that our language gets the important investment that it needs, not just for elders but for youth. In fact, one of our elders who is a native language holder and speaker, Levi Martin, sent a note today saying, “In our culture, first nation people do not have to be certified or have a permit to be who they are. Our people who are recognized and do a good job of teaching should be paid the same rate as other teachers. Some of our people teach teachers, so they are like professors and should be paid as such.”

My question is for the member. Will the government deliver much-needed urgent funding? Every day we are losing speakers who are the holders of language that is saving lives. Will the member ensure that the necessary investments go to the communities so that the communities can ensure the money goes to the right resources, so that language is passed on to the next generation?

[Arif Virani]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate this intervention. It is critically important. We heard that over and over again in the consultations—that what we need is supports in terms of resources and what we need is stable, long-term, predictable funding.

I have a few things to say in response. First, we have set out a funding model in this legislation that could allow for five-year agreements, as opposed to one year, which is usually the norm. Second, in terms of the good faith we have already shown, through the aboriginal languages initiative and other money that was dedicated two years ago, $89.9 million was provided for a three-year spend, just as an interim gesture of good faith to demonstrate to indigenous communities around the country that we believe in support through resources.

The third response is that in this legislation, for what I understand to be the first time ever, we have included a duty on the minister responsible to actively consult with indigenous leaders about the funding. The funding is not a questionable issue and the funding is going to follow. Because consultation is a requirement, indigenous leaders are going to speak to the government about how much funding is required.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, what a privilege it is to speak in support of this legislation. I anticipate all members on all sides of this House will eventually support it. I am encouraged by the words that have been spoken already today regarding how important it is that this legislation passes. It is just going to be a question of time. I ask colleagues from all sides of the chamber to recognize the value of the legislation. We have seen legislation pass rather quickly in the past. In fact, if the political will is there, legislation can be passed within hours. It is just an issue of the political desire for that to be the case with this legislation.

It is an important piece of legislation and it is consistent with what the Prime Minister has talked about since day one. When we talk about the importance of establishing a relationship with indigenous people across Canada, this is one of the things we can do to send a very strong and positive message.

The first individuals I would like to acknowledge and thank are the indigenous leaders, who communicated within the department and with different stakeholders to ensure we better understood how very important language is for indigenous people. I attribute the strong leadership from indigenous people for ultimately causing us to bring forward the legislation.

When the reconciliation report came out, the Prime Minister, or the leader of the Liberal Party at the time, indicated support for the many calls to action within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report. When we think of truth and reconciliation, we have to think about the calls to action, which is what we are addressing today. The credit goes to the individuals who made presentations for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, individuals like Senator Sinclair and many others, for the fine work they did in ensuring we had these calls to action in the first place.

I have a copy of the 94 calls to action, and number 13 states:

We call upon the federal government to acknowledge that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights.

Call to action number 14 states:

We call upon the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Languages Act that incorporates the following principles:

i. Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.

ii. Aboriginal language rights are reinforced by the Treaties.

iii. The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient funds for Aboriginal-language revitalization and preservation.

iv. The preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Aboriginal languages and cultures are best managed by Aboriginal people and communities.

v. Funding for Aboriginal language initiatives must reflect the diversity of Aboriginal languages.

Call to action number 15 states:

We call upon the federal government to appoint, in consultation with Aboriginal groups, an Aboriginal Languages Commissioner. The commissioner should help promote Aboriginal languages and report on the adequacy of federal funding of Aboriginal-languages initiatives.

That comes right from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the calls to action. Today, we have heard a good number of people speak about the importance of reconciliation. We understand and we appreciate just how important language is to the very fabric of our heritage. It is not too late.

This legislation, I would argue, is very timely. We heard the Prime Minister, not that long ago, make a commitment to indigenous people to establish that relationship, and we have seen actions by different departments to fulfill that. There have been other calls to action that have been fulfilled. Today, the minister of heritage has brought forward a piece of legislation, after doing the work that is necessary in working with indigenous leaders and many other stakeholders, and presented what I believe is historic legislation here in the House of Commons.

I ask that members across the way recognize it, as we have recognized important legislation in the past. When we have recognized that, we are seeing fit to ensure that it passes through. That is my call to my colleagues across the way.

It was just yesterday that we passed a bill on to a committee after one and a half hours of debate. Given that it was a private member's piece of legislation, it is totally different, but we have seen government legislation also pass in one day. If the political will and the desire and recognition are there, I would ask, if not this type of legislation, then what other kind of legislation merits the type of support that is being provided here?

At the opening of this session, we had some historical things take place. At the opening of this beautiful chamber, we had a smudging ceremony. The member for Winnipeg Centre, my colleague and friend, said his entire speech in an indigenous language. Earlier today, another member of Parliament spoke his entire speech in an indigenous language. That in itself is new because, for the first time in these last couple of weeks, we have actually been able to have interpretation services. If someone is speaking in an indigenous language here on the floor of the House of Commons in Ottawa, we can actually understand what that person said because it was being interpreted. We recognize that members of Parliament, on all sides of this House, value the importance of indigenous languages.

In Winnipeg North we have great diversity of indigenous languages that are spoken. I am not that good in terms of my pronunciation, but some examples are Anishinaabe, Dene, Oji-Cree and Michif. A diversity of indigenous languages can be found in Winnipeg North. The constituents who I represent come from all over the province of Manitoba and have lived on reserves throughout. My riding has high schools like Children of the Earth and many others that would welcome the opportunity to see this legislation put into place. Our educational system is so critically important in terms of participation.

Our minister and the Government of Canada are playing their role by bringing forward the legislation. We are calling upon the other stakeholders, such as the provinces, school boards and municipalities. Most important is for us to work with the strong leadership within the indigenous community. I look to people like Sharon Redsky and Cindy Woodhouse, two outstanding individuals who I have got to know and often take advice from. They both live in Winnipeg North.

We can all, I believe, contribute to reconciliation today by recognizing the value and importance of what it is that we are hoping to accomplish.

If we understand and appreciate just how important this issue is to our indigenous people, I suggest we pass it. Let us get it to committee, where we can hear other stakeholders' concerns and opinions.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

There will be five minutes for questions and comments when the House next takes up this topic.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-91, An Act respecting Indigenous languages, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

There are five minutes remaining in questions and comments following the speech of the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the words of my colleague's speech. He talked not only about the importance of the indigenous language bill but also about the broader government agenda regarding indigenous issues.

Today, of course, we learned some very disturbing facts regarding the former justice minister and Attorney General of Canada. In a speech on October 30, she noted that even someone in an important position like hers could be marginalized.

Could my colleague align the Liberals' firing of someone who felt marginalized at the cabinet table with the Liberals' veneer that they care about indigenous issues and that no relationship is more important than the one with indigenous peoples?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we should be focusing on what we are accomplishing with the introduction of Bill C-91.

As I pointed out, it is historic legislation. Indigenous leaders from all regions of our country, as well as non-indigenous people, recognize the critical importance of a language heritage. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission came up with a call to action, and this legislation deals with three of the calls that I am aware of. I see this as a positive.

I would not want to take anything away from the value or significance of this legislation. I do believe that at the end of the day, for the residents of Winnipeg North and beyond, this Parliament as a whole can come together to recognize the value of this legislation and allow it to go committee. We can then hear from the different stakeholders who want to voice their thoughts, expressing concerns they might have or how they would support the legislation or would suggest ways we can improve upon it.

This is a good piece of legislation. It has been a long time coming. I look forward to it ultimately going to committee so that we can get it that much closer to receiving royal assent.