Procedure and House Affairs Committee on March 31st, 2022

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

That's quite all right. Is there a ballpark figure that you would know? Is it more than 38% or is it less than 38%, do you think?

[Karliin Aariak]

Aluki, with your experience, did you want to add to that?

[Aluki Kotierk]

I was just going to say I would prefer that we provide the information. We'll find out what the voter turnout was for the territorial election and municipal elections. I don't have that on hand.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

I'll move on to a different question. This goes to all the witnesses.

In your experience, have some types of consultations already taken place regarding this issue in Nunavut, and what have been the outcomes of that consultation process? What do you hear from the residents of Nunavut in terms of seeing their language being used on the ballot?

It was referred to a bit in some opening statements. I wonder if you could speak to that a little more.

[Cédric Gray-Lehoux]

Our political adviser, Simon Dabin, did a research project for his doctoral thesis on exactly this question of indigenous voting within the federal system. We will be sharing that with you later.

In our opening statements, we mentioned some of our findings. There hasn't really been any research that shows that including indigenous languages would increase the vote, knowing that there is quite a complex reason behind indigenous peoples not voting, those numbers being about 40% of participation.

However, we will be sending the information on that research project, just to make sure that you have the most up-to-date information.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Okay. Unless there's a comment from somebody else, I'll move on to my next question.

We were talking to the CEO the other day. Some of the questions posed to him were about creating an advisory council on how to go about incorporating indigenous languages into the ballot.

Do you have any suggestions as to how the Chief Electoral Officer or Elections Canada could go about doing that? In terms of contracting the right assistance, should they have somebody in house to be able to provide all the materials or should they be contracting the services that you contract with for the municipal and territorial elections right now, that the territory of Nunavut contracts out?

We just heard that Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. also has contractors that they use for their ballots.

[Aluki Kotierk]

I think the first step in terms of Nunavut would be to contact Elections Nunavut, which conducts the elections for the territorial government and the municipalities, to see how their process works.

I already indicated that I sent information about how our elections work in the Inuit organizations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Does anybody else want to comment on that?

Thank you so much for that exchange.

We'll now go to Madam Gill.

Ms. Gill, you have two and a half minutes.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I know I took a lot of time just now, but I would like to ask one last question. Obviously, we could talk about this at greater length with Mr. Gray-Lehoux and Mr. Vollant.

I did understand just now that translation did not encourage participation by Indigenous people in elections, nor did it help to revitalize Indigenous languages. In fact, we talked about our sisters from Nunavut, where the situation is different from the situation for the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Youth Network.

If it neither encourages participation nor promotes revitalization, what use would it serve?

[Cédric Gray-Lehoux]

In our comments, we began by saying that we acknowledge all the efforts that may be made to promote the First Nations languages.

The problem we are facing often comes down to the fact that there are 11 different Indigenous languages in Quebec. There was reference to a 1 per cent threshold earlier. The peoples are relatively nomadic, and we often have to move, for school and jobs, for example. So we would have to make sure that our 11 languages are represented in every polling station and every riding. We think that might be too heavy a burden, not just for electors, for also for poll workers.

That is why we recommend that this money be used more effectively, when it comes to revitalizing our language and putting systems in place to support our young people.

That said, we recognize the importance of going ahead in certain ridings and situations, including the situation of our northern sisters. Obviously, we support our sisters' arguments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Go ahead, Mr. Vollant.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

[Member spoke in Indigenous language.]

[Translation]

[Shikuan Vollant]

I would like to add something.

My colleague [Technical difficulty—Editor] in Quebec and Labrador, but there are 43 First Nations communities. That could be a linguistic and logistical nightmare, because we would have to make sure the correct pronunciation and correct written form was used in each community. I don't write, and don't even speak, the same Innu as is spoken in Natashquan, in Unamen Shipu or in Pakuashipi. We all have our differences, and that is the beauty of our languages.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you for those comments.

Ms. Idlout, you have two and a half minutes.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Qujannamiik.

I think my question will be for Aluki.

I appreciate the difficult dichotomy that we are faced with in terms of language and culture and how the electoral process is very colonial for first nations, Métis and Inuit communities.

At the same time, we're sitting here trying to understand what the barriers are to increasing voter turnout. I think what we need to understand may be from the Inuit perspective, and I'm asking you specifically, Aluki, because I know you had to be elected as the president of NTI and how, within the Inuit culture, there may have been different ways of selecting leaders for our communities.

Could you try to describe what the barriers might be that indigenous people experience in trying to reach such activities like voting?

[Aluki Kotierk]

[Witness spoke in Inuktitut]

I think you raised a really interesting point in terms of culture. That was one of the reasons I wanted to share when Inuit were able to vote starting in 1962, because Inuit were moved from the land to communities. Part of being moved from the land to communities was not only a drastic cultural and lifestyle change in terms of the economy, wage economy, going to school, participating in a community in the way we do now, but also voting for an individual was something that also had to be learned.

In our nomadic family camp systems, leaders would become leaders based on their knowledge, their skills and family members going to individuals based on their expertise on specific issues. The idea of leadership in terms of an election is a different concept and is raised on occasion in our communities when there are discussions about [Witness spoke in Inuktitut] or someone who's able to make decisions about things. The irony is now having individuals who speak both English and Inuktitut being in positions even when they're fairly young to be leaders, and I think that's in contradiction to the way our culture would often function very recently in living history. That adds an additional barrier to how things are done.

I think it's quite uncomfortable for Inuit candidates in the way they go around saying, “Vote for me. I have the best skill set. Vote for me. I will be capable of doing this. Vote for me. This is what I will do for you.” Culturally, the idea of self-promotion is quite frowned upon, because we're all part of our communities. Each of us, regardless of who we are and what we do, have an important role in our community, so no one is to be put on a higher pedestal than that of someone else. It becomes quite uncomfortable even for candidates to be asking for people's votes, so that adds to how there may be.... We talked a little bit about the different factors as to why there may be lower voter turnout. I think that might be one.

I'll leave it at that.

[Witness spoke in Inuktitut]

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you for those words and that information.

Mr. Scheer, the next five minutes go to you.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I really appreciate the testimony that we've heard today. It's been a great discussion, and I think we can all agree on the goal of facilitating participation in elections. Some of the discussion has touched upon some of the challenges that many speakers of Inuit and indigenous languages face on a more general basis.

Mr. Vollant, I was wondering if you could expand a bit on the comment you made about directing resources toward ensuring that the ballots are printed in more languages than just English and French. You said that members in your community have other areas where they believe the investment of those resources could have a bigger impact. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that's the impression I got.

Could you speak about some of the areas where you might consider resources like this being directed, instead of focusing solely on the ballots? What other types of programming or services may help the people you represent have more ability to use their indigenous languages?

[Shikuan Vollant]

Thank you for that question, Mr. Scheer.

Language happens in the home first. I learned Innu when I was young, because my mother always spoke to me in that language. It is a matter of investment, culture and language, but it also affects an individual's well-being and holistic healing.

If I have children one day, how am I going to manage to teach my language if I am not well? This issue even involves social and psychological services. It is truly far-reaching. We see only the tip of the iceberg, but everything underneath is extremely large. If we want to preserve our culture, and if we want to learn all our languages, we have to be well in ourselves.

We must first love our identity, something that is not given to all members of the First Nations, because we still suffer abusive treatment like systemic racism. Will I want to be Innu if I have to go to the hospital? Am I going to be embarrassed to speak my language, even if there is an Innu interpreter there? Am I going to be afraid of experiencing racism or hate? It is very far-reaching, Mr. Scheer.

In an ideal world, the Innu nation would encourage parents to speak to their children in Innu at home, and that is how we could revitalize our language. However, it is very difficult, Mr. Scheer, because starting in primary school, we learn the alphabet in French, not in our languages. For a child who goes home after speaking French all day, do you think it is easy to speak Innu with their father or mother? No, Mr. Scheer, it is very difficult.

To revitalize the language, we have to dig a lot deeper. On the question of studies, the Institut Tshakapesh can tell you what to do and what would be a good idea when it comes to the Innu language. However, seeing the tip of the iceberg isn't enough; you have to look at what is underneath. That is very important.

It is not sufficient to write in Innu on a ballot, Mr. Scheer. I myself, Shikuan Vollant, don't recognize the Canadian constitution as my own, so I don't go out to vote. I think it was our MP, Marilène Gill, who asked what could be done to encourage the First Nations to vote. Make it something we want to do and give us a way of recognizing ourselves in that institution. That is the question.

Thank you.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Chair, I don't have any other questions on this now so I will hand my time over to either one of my colleagues or one of the other committee members.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Mr. Vollant helped you spend all your time. That was a really good opening question, and I think the perspectives he was able to provide are actually quite informing and even relatable a little for myself.

I'm the child of immigrants from India and we spoke Punjabi at home. Then all of a sudden I went to school and it was in English. I said, “What's going on here?” It was challenging because I lived in Canada outside of my house and it felt like I lived in India in the house. Language is very important. I really appreciated that exchange.

Mrs. Romanado, we go over to you for five minutes.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and through you I would like to thank the witnesses for being with us today.

This has been excellent testimony for us and, in fact, will help feed a subsequent study that we will eventually be doing in terms of the 44th election. I think this is very beneficial for us to understand not just the question of indigenous languages on ballots, but also the barriers for indigenous peoples to participate in the democratic process.

I want to follow up with respect to a question one of my colleagues had when the Chief Electoral Officer was here. She inquired about what the Chief Electoral Officer was doing in between elections to prepare.

Based on the testimony from Ms. Aariak, it is clear that documentation for municipal and territorial elections, for instance, a “vote here” sign giving directions, already exists, so it's not a question of reinventing the wheel. The information is already available.

Ms. Aariak, you mentioned that you have been in correspondence with the Chief Electoral Officer. Perhaps this would be more a question for the chief electoral officer for Elections Nunavut, but has there been any proactive approach to reach out to your organization to get assistance in making sure that documentation that needs to be translated for federal elections is also in line with what you're doing? It strikes me that the Chief Electoral Officer did not have a poster—and you mentioned this in example one—directing voters where to vote in advance polls for a federal election when it exists at both municipal and provincial.

Even more disturbing for me is example 5, where it said a “masks required” sign posted on a door during the election was only in English. I quickly went on the Public Health Agency of Canada website to look up information regarding coronavirus, and there was a drop-down menu where I could select the Inuktut language and proceed to print a poster in the official languages of Nunavut about mask requirements and so on.

If this information already exists, how is it that the Chief Electoral Officer cannot proactively make sure that this information is provided to you?

I am quite concerned that for some reason this is not happening. I would hope, as my colleague said in the last meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer, that in between elections this outreach and pretty basic googling is happening so this is not an issue at the next federal election.

Would you and any other witnesses like to comment on that?

[Karliin Aariak]

I believe that was directed to me, if I'm correct.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Yes. Thank you.

[Karliin Aariak]

The process within our office in receiving concerns is we have to go through an investigative process, contact the obligated body, and when it is with Elections Canada we have done so.

Before the federal election in 2021, I did correspond in the beginning of my tenure as the languages commissioner ahead of the elections of the previous concerns that our office had received.

The response that I did receive was the efforts and the list of what Elections Canada was doing to ensure there was more information available. That was promising, but why did my office continue to receive concerns during 2021?

There are still issues that need to be addressed. Thank you for pointing out the one about masks, because it was already over a year that we were experiencing COVID.