Procedure and House Affairs committee  The strongest argument, in my view, would come from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the possibility of an argument that there is an impediment to the right to vote and/or non-discrimination rights. If there were a successful argument along those lines—and I am not aware of any case law that has gone in that direction—it would probably bear not just on indigenous languages, but also on other minority languages in ridings that have populations that are similarly situated in some respects in terms of speaking another language and not having proficiency in English or French at the highest of levels, and thus facing a barrier.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  UNDRIP, in some of its articles, uses the terminology of “indigenous peoples” having certain rights. In other articles it uses the terminology of “indigenous individuals” having certain rights, or certain rights are held by “peoples and individuals”. In the context of article 13.2 on political proceedings or legal and administrative proceedings, the reference is to “indigenous peoples”.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Looking at some of the literature on the United States, they use the term “sample ballots”, which are somewhat the same idea as a facsimile ballot that I think Elections Canada talks about. Insofar as that removes a barrier, it could be an effective way of removing a barrier and meeting the legal concerns that would arise there, as well as some of the policy concerns.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Good morning, honourable members. I'm Dwight Newman and I work as a professor of law and Canada research chair in indigenous rights in constitutional and international law at the University of Saskatchewan. I appear today as an individual. Proposals to add indigenous languages to election ballots in Canada have circulated in recent years.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I haven't tried to carry out a full survey of the provinces on this. I know at least one provincial government has already raised concerns with the federal government over the legislation and has asked for more dialogue around the federal-provincial interaction in relation to this legislation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One can never avoid challenges entirely, but there are some things that strike me as possible amendments if one is working the bill as is, although there have obviously been other critiques of it that could call for other reshaping. Thinking of it from as is, I would restrict clause 7 so that the bill is purporting to bind only the federal Crown and isn't trying to say something about the provincial Crowns, because that's not a matter for the federal government to decide.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  True.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In my quick comments I couldn't explain section 88 of the Indian Act in full. To explain it in full it would take a couple of hour-long classes. Basically, it just provides for the general application of provincial laws of general character on reserve, subject to a number of exceptions.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. In a number of clauses, the bill makes statements regarding principles that apply in off-reserve child welfare contexts that would normally have been within the jurisdiction of the provinces, and it's not clear to me that they're within the 91(24) power. Those are clauses 10 through 17.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good morning. As mentioned, my name is Dwight Newman. I'm a Professor of Law and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Rights in Constitutional and International Law at the University of Saskatchewan. I have done writing on various topics in indigenous rights law. I also write on general constitutional law topics.

Canadian Heritage committee  I'd say that issues regarding education are going to require further steps that go beyond what's contained in this bill. They're an important further step, a context in which it's necessary to offer further support for indigenous languages. Hopefully, the commissioner's office will help to identify that as well within the context of this bill.

Canadian Heritage committee  There's a lot of work ahead in that regard. There will need to be clear and open lines of communication between the federal office involved and all of these other entities it needs to engage with, in terms of provincial and indigenous governments. There's a challenging task ahead for the commissioner.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think that reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is very appropriate. I think there are clear references to that. For example, paragraph 5(g) speaks to a purpose of the bill in advancing the achievement of the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to indigenous languages.

Canadian Heritage committee  It would be preferable to specifically enumerate territorial governments within the bill as well.

Canadian Heritage committee  I agree that it would be preferable to include a specific reference to territorial governments. It may be necessary to refer to Nunavut differently from the other two territorial governments, even though that would require further thought. As you highlight, it arises as a public government in response to a modern treaty, and has a bit of a different relationship to the country than the other two territories.