Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 19th, 2019

[Clément Chartier]

Essentially, the Michif language is concentrated in the prairie provinces. We have our governmental infrastructures along with our cultural and educational institutes. I'm from northwest Saskatchewan and many of our schools are in our Métis villages. They are trying to deal with the language issue.

Given the fiscal capacity, our educational institutions would be able to begin enhancing what they are doing now. I would like to see our youth having camps, language nests, and actual exchanges with Québécois youth, because we share some common history and it's important that we continue having that relationship. French, while the pronunciation is a bit different, still has some roots with the Québécois.

There are just ways that we need to get to our people. We need our dances and songs captured and revitalized. I know our music has taken off with youth tremendously. We need to somehow replicate that with respect to language. We need to find ways to do that and to interest our youth once again to get involved in that.

[Steven Blaney]

I would like to ask one last question, if I may, Madam Chair.

You have mentioned that it is important to feel recognized as a nation by the government, which is a representative of the Crown. Can you tell me about the importance of that bill in terms of recognition of the Métis nation and its culture? You've alluded to it, but maybe you'd like to add something more about what it means to have the Parliament of Canada adopting this bill for the Métis.

[Clément Chartier]

Recognition is very important. We've been put down and marginalized for so long.

One big step forward was during the Charlottetown round in 1991-92. The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney came to Winnipeg during that process, and he recognized the Métis nation, which was good. Through that process also, with the Right Honourable Joe Clark we were able to have a side deal to the Charlottetown Accord. It was the Canada-Métis Nation Accord.

That recognition, then, was there. Also, Mr. Clark introduced in Parliament a resolution recognizing Louis Riel as a founder of Manitoba and recognizing the contribution Riel made to Canada; this was good. The Right Honourable Paul Martin picked that idea up during the Kelowna round. For us, those kinds of recognition are good.

This last three years particularly with the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau and the nation-to-nation, government-to-government relationship have really buoyed our people. We're looking to have that kind of recognition moving forward. It's very important to us. It's good for our psyche. It's good for our future. It's good for our children to hear it. We have very proud cultural activities in our communities through music, dance and also through our symbols—the flag and the sash, for example.

[Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you.

We will now be going to Ms. Jolibois for seven minutes.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you.

Mr. Chartier, do you personally speak any languages—

[Clément Chartier]

Yes, I speak English.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

—besides English?

[Clément Chartier]

I can speak Michif; I can speak Cree—not fluently, which is very unfortunate, because I'm one of those victims of the residential schools who have not been recognized. I was at residential school for basically eleven and a half of my twelve years in school. I then had another four years of getting my university, at another boarding school type of system, until I was 21. I'm basically not proficient in the language.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

You mentioned that in northwest Saskatchewan, there is Michif. Île-à-la-Crosse is a Cree community and La Loche is a Dene community. Then when you go into—

[Clément Chartier]

No, I would disagree.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Let me finish before I ask you a question, because I'm thinking Batoche has different linguistic groups who identify themselves as Métis. I want to know how, if they were to apply for funding for specific language retention, you would envision that process.

[Clément Chartier]

Thank you.

Of course, Georgina, you know very well that La Loche is a Métis community, as is Île-à-la-Crosse.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Yes.

[Clément Chartier]

It's just that La Loche happens to be Dene speaking—

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

That's why I say the community—

[Clément Chartier]

No, it's not a Dene community; it's a Dene-speaking Métis community.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Yes.

[Clément Chartier]

You were once one of us at Île-à-la-Crosse.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

That's right, but it's a Dene community.

[Clément Chartier]

If you go to Île-à-la-Crosse and tell them they're a Cree community, they'll say, “No, we're a Métis community, but we speak Cree.” They used to speak Michif when I was younger. They spoke Michif in Île-à-la-Crosse. Even in La Loche they spoke Michif at that time, before your time.

The way I see it happening is that there will be a Michif language fund and Île-à-la-Crosse certainly will take advantage of it, because they teach Michif in the schools.

You called it Cree. That's fine; you can take it up with them—they're your constituents.

I would see Cree and Dene speakers and Saulteaux speakers within the Métis nation applying for those funds as well.

Basically, there is room for everyone. There's no point in denying your Métis ancestry because you speak a Cree language or a Dene language.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

It's really important. We have to clarify, because elders would say otherwise. It's so important to validate what the elders say. I have heard elders from Pinehouse to Île-à-la-Crosse who said “a Cree”, and then they used Michif.

How do you foresee educational institutions such as Gabriel Dumont Institute having access to funding?

[Clément Chartier]

I would say that my preference would be that the federal government enter into dialogue with the government of the Métis nation, and that we have an allocation for the Michif language, or languages, and that we would ensure then that our governments—in the case of Saskatchewan, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan—have the monies to allocate to their institutions. The Gabriel Dumont Institute, which is the forefront of the language in our province—and you know GDI very well—would have, I think, the lead in this language initiative. But places like Île-à-la-Crosse, which is celebrating their 20th anniversary of Michif language—and you could say, no, you're wrong, it's not 20 years of Michif; it's something else; but that's up to you.... They're celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, so we see the mechanism being that those on the ground would be instrumental in moving forward. In fact, it must be primarily or initially through Métis governments. We deal with our institutions in the same way that the federal government would deal with its institutions.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Is the Métis government the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, the area directors, the local presidency office and then the settlements? When you say Métis governments, is that who you're thinking of?

[Clément Chartier]

Yes, primarily.