I'll conclude. I know the time is short. I understand the pressure under which you work and exercise your responsibilities.
I would draw your attention to that general context in which we are in an evolving situation. I met with the Minister of Heritage two years ago when I introduced that bill, to inform her that this was my third initiative in relation to that. She pledged to launch consultations with aboriginal leaders throughout all of Canada, and the government has fully committed to introducing a languages protection bill.
We in the Senate have shown that it is possible to have a third group of languages used, aboriginal languages specifically, by, of course, having the opportunity to inform the Senate clerk or the committees clerk before that group of languages is used, to make sure that there is an interpreter available and there is a capacity for that senator to use that language and to be understood. Presently, of course, anyone can use any language, but if he or she is not understood, then it's not worth the paper on which that statement is printed and that MP or senator cannot fully participate in the deliberative and legislative functions of the chamber.
We thought it would be possible to do that in the chamber. In the beginning there were objections, no doubt about that, and those who said asked, if we were to do it, what kind of precedent we would be creating for other languages and so forth. We canvassed those issues and we came to the conclusion that aboriginal people have a particular status. They have had constitutional protection through the years. As I said, they have never been conquered. They were there before my own ancestor arrived in 1649, who happened to be, by the way, a translator.
When the missionaries came to Canada in those years, they had to hire people to use as interpreters because none of the European settlers spoke aboriginal languages. The first thing they had to do was to learn aboriginal languages, because aboriginal languages were spoken. In those years, during the French regime and up to the Treaty of Paris of 1763, aboriginal leaders were speaking their aboriginal languages and not learning French; it was the French who were learning the aboriginal languages.
It's the situation now that they are trying to reintegrate into the Canadian mainstream, with their identity, with pride in speaking their languages. Of course, it is the responsibility of the Government of Canada, which through the residential school system obliterated aboriginal languages, to take the initiative and steps to reinstate for them the right to speak their languages.
It is in that context that the Senate took the initiative some 12 years ago to allow, progressively, the use of languages. Today, the two Inuit senators have retired from the Senate. Senator Adams has retired, and Senator Watt retired last month. There are no Inuit senators in the Senate presently. There are seven aboriginal senators in the chamber. We have devised a system through which it is possible to use an aboriginal language by, as I said, giving notice before so that there is an interpreter available and that there is a possibility for them to use their language effectively.
I certainly suggest to you to look into that carefully. Use the precedent that took place in the Senate. Senator Patterson was appointed in 2008 and came into the chamber just at the moment we were really recognizing the use of aboriginal languages. I think he could testify by himself on his experience in the Northwest Territories where there are—how many?—11 languages.