Canadian Heritage Committee on March 18th, 2019

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

All right. Seeing no further discussion, all in favour of CPC-1.1?

[Cathy McLeod]

May I have a recorded vote on this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Sure.

(Amendment negatived: nays 9; yeas 3 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

That brings us to NDP-7.

Monsieur Nantel.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

The purpose of this amendment is to amend clause 6 by adding after line 25 on page 5, the following:

(2) for greater certainty the rights referred to in subsection (1) include the following rights of indigenous peoples:

(a) the right to reclaim, revitalize, use, develop, strengthen and transmit to present and future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures;

(b) the right to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons;

(c) the right to establish their own media in their own languages;

(d) the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture; and

(e) the right to enter into agreements with the Government of Canada or with provincial governments, including agreements to further the purposes of this act.

Those are, essentially, the changes we wanted to make.

Are there any questions?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Since there are no further comments, I call the vote on amendment NDP-7.

(Amendment negatived)

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

(Clause 6 agreed to on division)

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

We are now at new clause 6.1.

Mr. Nantel, you may present amendment NDP-8 on this clause.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I can read it, but you may also look at page 13 of the document.

That bill C-91 be amended by adding after line 25, on page 5, the following new clauses:

Additional Specific Rights Related to Inuktut

6.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 6.2 to 6.5.

Inuit regions means Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, the Nunavut Settlement Area as defined in section 2 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region referred to in the definition Agreement in section 2 of the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act. (régions inuites)

lnuktut means the Indigenous language spoken by Inuit in Canada and includes Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuttut and Inuvialuktun, as well as related dialects and subdialects. (Inuktut)

(2) This section and sections 6.2 to 6.5 are to be interpreted in accordance with the following principles:

(a) Inuit Nunangat, being the Inuit homeland in Canada, is a distinct cultural, political, and geographical area composed of the Inuit regions;

(b) Inuktut is an original language of Canada, the original language of Inuit Nunangat and the first language spoken by the majority of Inuit Nunganat residents;

(c) effective public administration in Inuit Nunangat is best achieved through the delivery of programs and services in the first Ianguage of the recipients of those programs and services; and

(d) speakers of Inuktut are entitled to programs and services in Inuktut the quality and accessibility of which are comparable to programs and services offered to Canadians living in parts or regions of Canada where English or French predominates.

6.2 (1) The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that—in close collaboration with Inuit governing bodies and in a manner consistent with the powers and jurisdictions of the provinces—the necessary measures are taken to sustain and support the status of lnuktut as an original language of Canada, including by ensuring that federal programs and services are delivered in Inuktut in Inuit Nunangat, to the extent that demand requires and capacity allows, and, outside Inuit Nunangat, where the numbers of speakers of Inuktut warrant its use.

Shall I continue?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

It's your decision, but since everyone has it in writing, everyone can read it. If you have anything else to add—

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I'd like to read it, but everyone also has it in writing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I'd be happy to listen to you, if you really want to read the whole thing.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you. That warms my heart.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Otherwise, it may be better to start discussing it.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I agree.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Are there any comments on NDP-8? Apparently not.

(Amendment negatived [See Minutes of Proceedings])

(Clause 7)

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

We'll now move on to clause 7.

We'll start with NDP-9.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Do you want to read it or should I read it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

If you have anything to add, you can read it.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

No, that's fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I must add that if NDP-9 is adopted, LIB-2 and LIB-2.1 cannot be moved due to a line conflict.

Seeing no debate, all in favour of NDP-9?

(Amendment negatived [See Minutes of Proceedings])

I understand there is now LIB-2.1

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

[Inaudible—Editor] the original act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

There are LIB-2 and LIB-2.1. Which is being moved?

Mr. Hogg.

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

It's LIB-2.1.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Do you have any commentary about LIB-2.1?

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Yes. Given the input from Mr. Shields, who made the point quite clearly on “diverse” being a strange word, with respect to this, clause 7 would read:

The Minister must consult with a variety of Indigenous governments and other Indigenous governing bodies and a variety of Indigenous organizations

It's replacing the word “diverse” with “variety”.