Question Period Note: Indigenous Languages and Official Languages

On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13 An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts received Royal Assent. Section 83 of the modernized Act specifies that "Nothing in this Act affects any rights - whether before or after the coming into force of this Act and whether by law or custom - of languages other than English and French, including Indigenous languages."

• Indigenous languages are an integral part of Canada’s culture and identity, and our government is committed to implementing, in partnership with indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• The modernized Official Languages Act recognizes that nothing can be interpreted in a manner that is inconsistent with the preservation or promotion of languages other than English or French, nor with the reclamation, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous languages.
• The Minister of Canadian Heritage and I are working to ensure that our official language efforts do not undermine, but complement, efforts to preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada.

• On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13 An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts received Royal Assent. Section 83 of the modernized Act specifies that "Nothing in this Act affects any rights - whether before or after the coming into force of this Act and whether by law or custom - of languages other than English and French, including Indigenous languages."
• All Ministers had 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 achieve greater recognition of their rights”. In particular, in the last mandate letter issued, the Minister of Canadian Heritage was mandated to “Work with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis to ensure that the Indigenous Languages Act (ILA) continues to be fully implemented, with long-term, predictable and sustainable funding to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada”.
o Under the Mandate Letters of December 16, 2021, the former Minister of Official Languages did not have a specific mandate with respect to Indigenous languages.
• The “official” nature of the recognition of English and French in Canada repeatedly raises questions about the status of Indigenous languages, Canada’s first languages, and the implications of the modernized Official Languages Act (modernized Act) for First Nations, Inuit and Métis across the country.
• The main purpose of the modernized Act is to ensure respect for English and French as the official languages of Canada and ensure equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions; to support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities in order to protect them; to advance the equality of status and use of the English and French languages within Canadian society; and advance the existence of a majority French-speaking society in Quebec.
• As for the purpose of the ILA, passed in 2019, is, in summary to :
o support and promote the use of Indigenous languages;
o support Indigenous peoples in their efforts to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen them;
o establish a framework to facilitate the effective exercise of Indigenous peoples’ rights relating Indigenous languages;
o establish measures to facilitate the provision of adequate, sustainable and long-term funding for this purpose;
o foster collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous governments and other Indigenous governing bodies;
o respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action numbers 13 to 15; and
o contribute to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to Indigenous languages.
• In 2022, 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. Indeed, according to the press, a memo 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, with a view to offering an exemption for positions where bilingualism is mandatory to candidates who speak an Indigenous language and 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 that federal institutions have an obligation to respect this right.

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