Canadian Heritage committee  It all boils down to funding and having adequate, sustainable, multi-year funding to be able to focus on the initiatives that are led by communities. One of the greatest things about Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey is that we're a collective. While we do have, in the language sense and on

Canadian Heritage committee  Flexibility should be around readiness and where you are in any particular state of your language in x community. We should not draft three priority areas of low-readiness or emergent, developing communities in setting the standards for language reclamation. It should not displac

Canadian Heritage committee  I understand the role of the commissioner in the legislation. I do reiterate Onowa's point about missing a clause with regard to a national body or institution. Again, building that foundation for our languages is important, and that comes from many people. I don't believe that c

Canadian Heritage committee  You talked about provinces and territories. I cannot speak to that in Saskatchewan, but in Nova Scotia we have a good foundational working relationship with the province. We are in the process of developing our own legislation specific to Mi'kmaw people as we are one language gro

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. What I see the impact being is that we're ready.... In terms of readiness, over the past 18 months, we have been developing language plans for all of our 13 communities in Nova Scotia. In terms of planning, there is no one-size-fits-all model for language reclamation.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have, of course, considered both the linear decline and the exponential decline, and have concluded that 13 years from 2015 there will be no speaking populations from zero to 29.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for your question. You talk about provinces and borders of our communities. As a Mi'kmaw, I know no boundaries. My territory spans four provinces. I think that's very important in the step of recognizing who we are as language groups. I represent speakers in New Brunsw

Canadian Heritage committee  I see language being part of all domains, going back to that normalization piece. Where I see this money being a flow-through is through the national organization my colleagues have spoken about before at this table, allowing for a national body—a part of government aside from th

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. Speaking for my own language, I don't see us—as a population of 30,000 or so—as any less important than those of higher populations or significantly lower populations. There is a need for all.

Canadian Heritage committee  We initiated a study done by Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey. In 1999, we assessed the speaking population of 10- to 19-year-olds to be at 70%. Thirteen years later, in 2015, we assessed the generation again, and they were at 20%.

Canadian Heritage committee  Good evening. [Witness spoke in Mi'kmaq] I am Blaire Gould, and I come from the Mi'kmaw territory, specifically the Eskasoni First Nation. I am a first-language speaker, born and raised in a language-rich community of Eskasoni First Nation. I represent a generation in my commu