Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 28th, 2019

[Chief Gerald Antoine, Liidlii Kue First Nation, As an Individual]

[Witness spoke in Dene Zhati]

[English]

I would like to thank the people here for giving me this time to share with you some of the things you're deliberating on with regard to Bill C-91. I come from a community called Liidlii Kue.

Margo passed out the medallion. I'd like you to look at that, because it's something that will tell you about our existence and about a relationship that we have. First, I'm a Dene person. “Dene” is a four-letter word. Earlier on, one of the committees wanted to use a four-letter word. I'm going to use a four-letter word, but not a swear word.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Chief Gerald Antoine]

Two sounds come from the word Dene. “De” makes reference to the river and “ne” makes reference to the land. You are of the land and of the water: That's what a Dene person is.

Another thing is that our land is really big. Liidlii Kue is a functional area. It's a place name for the confluence of Dehcho and Nachahdeh, which newcomers call the Mackenzie and Liard rivers. This is a place Pope John Paul visited in 1987. I was the chief at the time. Today I'm also the chief, but it doesn't mean I was chief all the time.

I went on a walkabout to just across there, to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where I was an intern. I had a chance to visit some of our belongings and some of our relatives there.

It's a special gathering place. You'll notice that the spirit of our language, the Dene language and other indigenous languages whose voices have been shared here, illustrates who we are and the relationship we have with all living things in our home territory. We have lived through our functions and our responsibilities with the land since time immemorial, and we will continue to live this way of life. As we move forward, we will also continue to look for meaningful ways, as we have, of putting food on the table.

We are part of a large linguistic family that spans from Alaska and the Northwest Territories through southern Alberta to the northern territories of Mexico. I'm here to speak with you from my position as chief regarding this process and to express three points of consideration. These are specific to jurisdiction, capacity and process. I will conclude by offering the committee some solutions to the problems that will be identified in this presentation.

As you'll notice from the medallion, two years from now we'll be commemorating 100 years of a relationship. This relationship is an international relationship. This is Treaty No. 11. My great-grandfathers, Ehthilo and Nakehgon, were two of the leaders who engaged the representatives of the Crown in right of Great Britain. This agreement was inherited by Canada. By entering into this international arrangement, the Dene and the Crown recognized one another as nations and agreed to coexist in peace and friendship.

At the time, in preparation for this relationship, Dene Zhati, or the Dene language, was used to communicate with the Crown, making it a medium for our treaty relationship and a treaty right. The Dene language is the basis for understanding the spirit and the intent of this relationship of coexistence. This was recognized by the Canadian courts in the Paulette case—and within the international community to this day.

Dene Zhati expresses who we are and is our spiritual database. It is a cornerstone of our nationhood, transferred to us by our ancestors through countless generations of experiences and observations of the land and all living things. Today I think people refer to this as “traditional knowledge”. However, from my context, it's a lot more than that.

Who we are is expressed through our language. This is the reason we did not cede anything when the Crown entered into a treaty with us. We insisted that your people would peacefully coexist with us. We did not give up any of our inherent rights or title. We retained our jurisdiction over ourselves and our inherent right to self-determination in all matters. It is from this foundation that I speak to you today.

My second point is in regard to the context of Bill C-91 and the lack of an assurance that capacity will be made available for the revitalization and sustainability of Dene. This has occurred once before, when the Government of the Northwest Territories enacted its Official Languages Act in 1984, recognizing the indigenous languages in our territory. This included Dene Zhati.

Although this act has been in place for 35 years, there are problems. The reason that the Dene originally supported the act is that we thought it would help revitalize and protect our languages. There was help mandated by the Dene to ensure this legislation would work, but since then, capacity has been removed from the existing legislation.

How much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

You have a minute, but I gave everybody else extra, so you can have two minutes.

[Chief Gerald Antoine]

Okay. I just wanted to skip that part because I made my point.

This is really significant, and I point out here that one only needs to examine the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act in comparison to Bill C-91 to see striking similarities. This is alarming to me. Bill C-91 presents an updated version of the NWT Official Languages Act, with some language around reconciliation and indigenous rights sprinkled over it, but the actual clauses do not provide any guarantees of capacity funding.

If you look at the treaty relationship, there were specific understandings and guarantees, and that has not been fulfilled. In all the different things that have been going on with any legislation, that's what's been happening. Yesterday, you heard things about corruption. You could look at this in that context too, because there's something not right.

My sister earlier on talked about crumbs. The other thing is that we're on the side. There are some things going on. When you're travelling around together, there are people in front of you who see everything and this is where you are. We're in the back, and you're yelling at us, saying, “What do you want? What can you see?”

We can't see anything. We don't know what we want because we're not there. We need to be there. The treaty relationship says that it's going to be coexistent, so we need to be there. We need to look at how we need to do that.

That's a point that I wanted to make, because the process—this is the point I'm making—is the process. Yes, we need capacity. The other thing is that there is a jurisdiction. There's the Crown's jurisdiction and there's Dene jurisdiction. It's coexistent. We need to work together. That's how we need to move forward.

That's how I feel, and that's how we need to move forward.

[Witness spoke in Dene Zhati]

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

We will now go to the Cree Nation Government, please.

[Grand Chief Abel Bosum, Grand Chief, Cree Nation Government]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, and honourable committee members.

[Witness spoke in Cree ]

[English]

I just wanted to give thanks to our creator for the gift of our language in Cree, and the ability to speak it. My name is Grand Chief Abel Bosum, and on behalf of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee, I am pleased to appear before you today. I am accompanied by Dr. Sarah Pashagumskum, chairperson of the Cree School Board and CEO of Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute; Dorothy Stewart, Cree language coordinator, social and cultural department; Tina Petawabano, responsible for indigenous relations with the Cree Nation Government; and Paul Joffe, legal counsel.

The Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee includes more than 18,000 Eeyou Istchee, or Cree, occupying our traditional territory of Eeyou Istchee. This territory covers around 400,000 square kilometres and is located mainly to the east and south of James Bay and Hudson Bay, with additional territories in Ontario.

The social and cultural department is responsible for the Cree nation's language program and policy. Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute is a museum, archive, library and research and education centre. The Cree School Board, over the past decades, has played a large role in Cree language research and program development as a primary instrument for Cree language maintenance in our territory.

From the outset, we wish to acknowledge the potentially far-reaching significance of Bill C-91, an act respecting indigenous languages. At the same time, we fully recognize the important challenges associated with reclamation, revitalization, maintenance and strengthening of indigenous languages. Clearly, there must be adequate space and flexibility to accommodate the perspectives and priorities of each indigenous people or nation.

It is important to note that according to the General Assembly of the UN, sustainable development includes language and cultural development. Also, there is a consensus that no one must be left behind. This explicitly includes indigenous peoples.

In our experience, implementation and enforcement of legislation are always a challenge. In particular, adequate resources are urgently required to carry out the programs and other initiatives for language development and preservation at all stages. At this crucial point, we need more clarity in regard to the specific global amounts that the federal government is setting aside for at least the next five years. This will help our ongoing planning and other activities under Bill C-91.

Fluency in languages is recognized globally as the most important standard. We are pleased that Bill C-91 consistently refers to fluency as a key standard and objective. In addition, we wish to underline the critical importance of the bill in linking indigenous peoples' languages to the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

At the same time, it's important to underline here that as indigenous people with the right of self-determination, we view our rights in a holistic manner. All of our inherent and pre-existing rights are interrelated, and interdependent. Our rights to language and culture cannot be separated from other inherent rights, especially our rights to lands, territories and resources. With respect to Cree language and culture, the words we speak derive from our relationship with the land. The words, thoughts and world views that we pass on to our children are connected to the land.

These essential interrelationships are explicitly affirmed in the UN Declaration, in its seventh preambular paragraph:

Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources.

Therefore, it's important to highlight the pressing need for umbrella legislation under the UN declaration. Such legislation, namely Bill C-262, has already been passed by the House of Commons and is currently at second reading in the Senate. We are proud that Romeo Saganash, a member of our Cree nation, sponsored Bill C-262, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples act. This bill will advance the human rights of indigenous people in Canada. It will also set an important precedent for indigenous peoples in other countries worldwide.

As underlined in call to action number 43, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls on the federal government and all levels of government to implement the UN declaration as a framework for reconciliation. Therefore, implementation of the declaration is inseparable from the TRC call to action. Any member of Parliament who fails to support the UN declaration is also undermining Canada's national reconciliation initiative.

As highlighted in the preamble of Bill C-91:

...2019 has been proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations as the International Year of Indigenous Languages to, among other things, draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to maintain, revitalize and promote Indigenous languages;

Such loss or severe impairment of indigenous languages—whether through residential schools; dispossession of lands, territories and resources; forced assimilations; destruction of culture; or other acts of colonization—must be redressed in authentic ways. Such ways must respect our ability to determine ourselves how we will maintain our languages and the vehicles that we will utilize to do so.

We look forward to working harmoniously with the federal government and others to achieve the critical objectives of Bill C-91.

Meegwetch. Kinanâskomitin.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

We will have a bit of a faster round of five minutes, beginning with Mr. Anandasangaree.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

This is the last panel for the study in this committee. We have gathered a very esteemed panel of experts and people with lived experience. I want to thank you all for being here.

Grand Chief Littlechild, may I ask you to offer your thoughts? I know you were trying to finish off. I'm wondering if you can give us your suggestions on changes. We had an earlier conversation, and it's very important we have it on the record.

[Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild]

Yes. Thank you very much. I'll be very brief.

There is mention of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but I think there are two other pieces of legislation that we should look at to guide our discussion or further drafting of Bill C-91.

The first one is the declaration by the Organization of American States, OAS, on the rights of indigenous peoples. In that declaration there are two very specific articles that really speak to the bill.

The second instrument I would refer to is the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, comment number 11 talks about indigenous children and their rights to language.

Those two international references should be considered as well as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The second point I was going to make was to propose another “whereas” clause, or indeed an operative article. Let me read it very quickly: “Whereas treaty stories, songs, ceremonies, traditions and beliefs are carried in indigenous languages, indigenous history, oral testimony and language must take paramountcy in interpretation of rights and responsibilities, according to the original spirit and intent and as understood by indigenous peoples.”

Lastly, I would say it's important to.... I'll give you a list. There are about nine specific places where I believe you could insert “treaty” to strengthen Bill C-91, from our perspective. Right now treaties are only very minimally mentioned in two places.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Thank you, Grand Chief.

For the record, Mr. Clerk, could the suggestion the grand chief gave us be recorded? I think it would be important to have it recorded.

This is to Chief Antoine. I'm going to try to come to the Cree Nation Government as well.

I have a very specific question relating to official languages. In NWT, I understand there are 11 official languages. What is the status of all those languages with respect to access to service? Are you able to obtain services in Dene, for example, from the provincial government, or are there challenges to implementing the multilingual nature of the NWT?

[Chief Gerald Antoine]

What we're challenged with there—and this is just my experience—is that it has gone in-house. There is no real relationship with it, from our perspective. There was an idea there again, and they thought that it would work. Canada had understood that they were going to make separate legislation, and when they were talking about it, for all the aboriginal languages in Canada at that time, in 1984, the budget for all the languages in Canada was $250,000. They were asked if they wanted to take that money. They said no, that it had to be separate. When they did separate legislation or a separate process, then they were given some money for implementation. I think it was $18 million in a span of three years.

However, it's a machinery that did all these processes, and here we are again at the porch, so to speak, and we're not involved with the capacity or the processes. That's where it stands. Right now, it's very minimal.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Thank you, Chief.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

That's all your time.

Mr. Yurdiga, you have five minutes.

[David Yurdiga, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to thank everyone for coming today.

Over this process, I've learned a lot. I do have family who are first nations and everything else, but you really grasp how serious this is when you go from coast to coast to coast. We see young people moving to the cities, becoming more urban. They're losing the connection to their home community. Their language and the culture are slowly slipping away. I don't know what can be done to solve that, but I guess this is a great first step.

One thing that I've been told numerous times is we want a grassroots approach to this issue. We want individual communities to be able to have the flexibility to do what they need to do in a community. Not every community is the same.

My first question will go to Grand Chief Littlechild.

Do you believe it's important that there be grassroots established, so that we're not going to have some kind of a new bureaucracy handing out money with strings attached to it? Do you think it should be grassroots, with the ability to do what needs to be done to ensure that the next generation has the tools they need to bring back their culture and language?

[Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild]

Yes. The foundation of it has to be the family. I'll give you three examples of what my community has done in an effort to revitalize our language in connection with young people, for example.

We have a Cree app for children. We also have a Cree dictionary, and we also now have a declaration that Cree leaders have made that in our territory, Cree is the official language. It's forcing us and causing us to use our language more, because it's the official language for our territory. It's not to deny the other two official languages, but for our territory, our chiefs and leaders have said Cree is the official language.

Those are three small steps, but what's happening is it's filtering down to the children's level, and that's where I think the foundation has to come from.

[David Yurdiga]

My next question is to Chief Antoine.

In your community, what are the challenges? Are the young people starting to want to learn our culture, our language? I ask because I know that according to statistics, the number of fluent speakers has been going down for a time. What initiatives have you put in place to ensure that in the future there will be more Dene speakers in your community?

[Chief Gerald Antoine]

To the first part of your question, our young people are very hungry for it. There is a group of young people, probably in their 30s, who call themselves “Dene Nahjo”. It means “smart Dene”. They really started to work with the older people about the way of life, trying to get as much of the language as they can. The process that they used is traditional moosehide tanning. They also have urban moosehide tanning, which tells you, as you'll see, that quite a large number of young people are engaged in it. That's an example of how things are evolving.

In terms of programs and projects, for me, sometimes we can get too mixed up with a lot of the logistical kind of lack-of-money stuff, but it doesn't really do that much for the language. You need to really come from the language.

To the gentleman who spoke a little bit earlier or asked a question about language, when you say “community”, you have to look at the context in which you're saying “community”. I think we're so stuck with different borders, like provinces and all these different municipal zones and things like that. I think we're so caught up with that.

You need to look at the region of the language. That's how you need to work with the people of the language. That's what you need to develop. You need to support and assist the people there to have the capacity and do the processes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you very much.

We will now go to Mr. Saganash.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

You have five minutes.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you.

[Member spoke in Cree]

[English]

Maybe I want to start with you, Mr. Littlechild, with a general question.

A lot of what we have to do in Ottawa now has to be based on solid foundations for the future. One of those things is the TRC report and the calls to action in that report. The other part is the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

You have read Bill C-91. Do you see any incompatibilities between Bill C-91 and those two important foundational documents?

[Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild]

Incompatibilities?

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Yes.

[Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild]

No. They're complementary.