Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for allowing us to be here to provide information on indigenous languages in Canada as part of your study of the interpretation of indigenous languages in the House of Commons.
I would like first to acknowledge that we are on traditional Algonquin territory and that the language traditionally spoken in this territory is referred to as Algonquin or Maniwaki Algonquin.
My name is William Fizet. I'm the Director General of the Citizenship Participation Branch, and within that branch we have the aboriginal peoples' program.
Budget 2017 allocated $19.5 million to the aboriginal languages initiative annually until 2019-20, which is three times more than previous allocations. In 2017-18, it supported 203 projects, which implemented participatory activities and developed resources in indigenous languages. Seventy-three languages or dialects received support from ALI in that year.
The Government of Canada recognizes that languages are an essential element of culture. Thus, indigenous languages are an essential element of indigenous culture. Indigenous people have used and continue to use their languages to describe the world they live in, to make sense of it, and to teach their cultures and values to their children.
Indigenous people were prevented from using and transmitting their languages through policies like that of the residential schools. Indigenous languages need support to be revitalized. To use them in the public domain, in the House of Commons, would have a great symbolic value.
The discussion about the usage of indigenous languages in our institutions needs to be held alongside a discussion on vitality of languages and the important revitalization efforts made by the indigenous communities themselves. The vitality of indigenous languages is assessed through a series of factors, including the proportion of speakers to the total population and average age of mother tongue speakers. Right now, not all indigenous people are able to speak their language. Moreover, the way languages and dialects are counted is complicated.
Let me share some overarching general information from Statistics Canada on this matter. Census 2016 revealed that approximately 1.6 million people reported an indigenous identity. A little more than one in six, which is approximately 260,000, reported being able to conduct a conversation in an indigenous language. A little more than 210,000 people reported having an indigenous language as their mother tongue. In 2016, the average age of mother tongue speakers had increased to 36.7 years. In 2011, the average age was 35 years old. When compared to the 1981 data, it shows an increase of more than nine years. However, there are exceptions, and those can be found with mother tongues of lnuktitut, which is an Inuit language, Atikamekw, and Naskapi, where the average approximate age is 26 years.
We see overall declining trends in percentages reporting an aboriginal mother tongue or language knowledge, and increasing average ages of mother-tongue speakers and the data indicate similar patterns and trends for males and females. The various indigenous languages spoken in Canada are reflective of the richness of indigenous cultures in Canada.
We know that linguists generally identify 11 indigenous language families that cross international borders, however, there is no definitive list of indigenous languages and dialects spoken in Canada, and we learn more about the languages every year.
Census 2016 revealed that the indigenous languages with more than 10,000 mother tongue speakers are Cree languages, lnuktitut, Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Dene and lnnu.
One other main source of information about indigenous languages is UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO maintains a list of 90 indigenous languages for Canada. This list was first established in 2008 by Canadian researcher Mary Jane Norris, who used data from previous censuses and a review of literature to establish the nomenclature. The list is updated regularly and now contains 2011 census data; it will continue to be updated as additional information becomes available.
Languages on the list are linked to the community with the largest number of speakers. Thus the list does not illustrate the actual dispersion of speakers in any given province or territory.
UNESCO's list includes the classification of languages based on their level of endangerment. The scale is based on the level of use of a language across generations. In the UNESCO scale, there are levels of endangerment for languages. For example, a language is deemed “vulnerable” if it is used by some children and in all domains such as school, home, work, and ceremonies. A language is “critically endangered” if it is used only by some of the great-grandparental generation. Other levels are “definitely endangered” and “severely endangered”. All indigenous languages in Canada are deemed “endangered”. Some languages are secondarily surviving such as Huron-Wendat, meaning that they have been brought back, while some are dormant and could potentially be revived. Others, we have to be frank, have become extinct.
For the 2016 census, StatsCan reported on 70 indigenous languages. The analysis shows that indigenous people who shared their information have reported more than 70 indigenous languages. StatsCan includes only the languages meeting the threshold of 45 speakers in the information released. The new list of 70 languages represents an increase from the 60 reported in the 2011 National Household Survey.
An important difference between the StatsCan data and the UNESCO list is found in the classifications of languages of the north. Census 2016 identifies four Inuit languages or dialects, while the UNESCO list identifies eight languages or dialects. Also, StatsCan refers to Algonquin as the language spoke in this traditional territory, while UNESCO uses the name Maniwaki Algonquin.
Canadian Heritage is currently supporting research with Mary Jane Norris to further our knowledge and classification of indigenous languages in Canada. I should note, however, that the complexity of the matter is such that there is not a definitive number of indigenous languages or any consensus in their classification. The update that we're embarking on will ensure that the 2016 data is used to understand the health and trends of indigenous languages. This work will also increase the information available on the various names used to identify indigenous languages.
These languages are currently identified by names that can have various linguistic origins such as the actual indigenous language, different indigenous languages, French, or English. Ultimately, however, communities have the knowledge and the final say to validate that information.
Lastly, we have to consider the writing systems used for various indigenous languages. Among others, the Roman alphabet and the syllabic system are used to write indigenous languages. Graphic symbols are taken from the International Phonetic Alphabet and blocks have been created in 1999 and 2009 to add characters. They're referred to as the Unicode Block “Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics” and the Unicode Block “Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics Extended”.
Standardization of systems is ongoing and this may lead to considering how IT elements might need to be adjusted to complement the work you're doing.
I'll now turn to the levels of endangerment for the 90 languages that UNESCO speaks to. There are 23 vulnerable and unsafe languages. There are five languages that are “definitely endangered”. There are 27 “severely endangered” languages, and there are 35 languages that UNESCO considers to be “critically endangered”. This last category means the language is used mostly by the great-grandparental generation and up. On average, the age of indigenous speakers has been increasing.
Thank you.