Question Period Note: Indigenous Languages and Official Languages

In their mandate letters (December 2021), all Ministers have been given the mandate to “implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to advance their rights”. Specifically, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has a mandate (December 2021) to “Work with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis to ensure that the Indigenous Languages Act continues to be fully implemented and is supported by long-term, predictable and sustainable funding in order to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada”.

• Indigenous languages are an integral part of the Canadian society’s cultures and identities, and our government is committed to implementing, in partnership with indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• The modernization of the Official Languages Act recognizes that nothing can be interpreted in a manner that is inconsistent with the maintenance and enhancement of languages other than English or French, nor with the reclamation, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous languages.
If pressed
• My colleague Minister of Canadian Heritage and I are making sure that our efforts in the area of Indigenous languages and official languages are coordinated and complementary.

• Under the Mandate Letters of December 16, 2021, the Minister of Official Languages Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency does not have a specific mandate with respect to Indigenous languages. However, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has a mandate to “Work with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation to ensure that the Indigenous Languages Act continues to be fully implemented and is supported by long-term, predictable and sustainable funding in order to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada”.
• The “official” nature of the recognition of English and French in Canada repeatedly raises questions about the status of Indigenous languages, the first languages of Canada, and the implications of the Official Languages Act for First Nations, Inuit and Métis across the country.
• The Official Languages Act essentially aims to ensure respect for English and French as the official languages of Canada, support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities; and set out the powers, duties and functions of federal institutions with respect to the official languages.
• The Indigenous Languages Act, passed in 2019, in summary aims to :
a) support and promote the use of Indigenous languages;
b) support the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages;
c) establish a framework to facilitate the effective exercise of the rights of Indigenous peoples that relate to Indigenous languages;
d) establish measures to facilitate the provision of adequate, sustainable and long-term funding for the reclamation, revitalization, maintenance and strengthening of Indigenous languages;
e) facilitate cooperation with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous governments and other Indigenous governing bodies;
f) respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action numbers 13 to 15; and
g) contribute to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to Indigenous languages.
• Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts proposes a clarification to section 83 of the Official Languages Act to indicate that “Nothing in this Act abrogates or derogates from any legal or customary right acquired or enjoyed either before or after the coming into force of this Act with respect to any language other than English or French, including any Indigenous language”.
• In August 2022, the Government announced the appointment of the first Indigenous justice to the Supreme Court of Canada. A “perfectly bilingual” Franco-Ontarian, Judge Michelle O’Bonsawin is an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation; she had sat in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa since 2017.
• At the same time, the Treasury Board stated that it had no intention of extending bilingualism bonuses to public servants who speak an official language and an indigenous language. These bonuses will remain reserved for French and English-speaking employees. In fact, according to the press, a note had circulated in the Fall of 2021, mentioning that a working group had been formed to discuss possible changes to bilingualism requirements in the federal public service, in order to offer an exemption for positions where bilingualism is mandatory for candidates who speak an indigenous language and who have sufficient knowledge of one of the official languages.
o The bilingual bonus are intended to support the Government's commitment that federal public servants have the right to work in the official language of their choice, and federal institutions have an obligation to respect this right under the Official Languages Act.
o According to the press, the Public Service Alliance of Canada had identified nearly 500 federal public servants who speak an indigenous language as part of their duties.

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