Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Honourable senators, American writer Rita Mae Brown said:

Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.

It is with that in mind that I rise today to speak briefly to Motion No. 219, which seeks to authorize the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to examine and report on Elections Canada’s plans for a pilot project to include Inuktut on federal election ballots in the electoral district of Nunavut. This important project would make it possible for the Inuktut names of federal candidates and political parties to appear on regular ballots in Nunavut.

First, I want to acknowledge that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people, and I am sincerely grateful to them for welcoming us here.

I want to thank the Honourable Senator Cotter for moving this motion. Although my comments complement his, I want to remind senators of some of the background that is needed to understand this issue.

In 2022, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs of the other place released a report noting, among other things, the barriers to the electoral participation of Indigenous voters. Among its four key recommendations, the committee urged the implementation of a pilot project to include Inuktut languages on federal election ballots in Nunavut.

In order to implement this project in accordance with the Canada Elections Act, Elections Canada now requires the prior approval of two parliamentary committees that normally consider electoral matters, namely the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs and the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. During his speech in the Senate, Senator Cotter referred to previous similar studies undertaken by the Senate Legal Committee, including a 2010 study of a pilot for electronic assistive voting devices.

The motion before us asks only that we refer the matter to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as it is in the best position to hear from the appropriate witnesses and determine the outcome.

As we debate this issue, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in the other place has already completed its study of the pilot project. As far as I know, the analysts have been tasked with preparing a draft report on this subject that will be, or has already been, considered by the committee members.

However, since receiving the letter from Stéphane Perrault, Chief Electoral Officer, dated September 12, the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has still not been authorized to study this project. Considering the steps and time required to fully implement the pilot project, it is important that the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs study this matter without delay.

Colleagues, I personally witnessed the unique cultural and linguistic reality of Nunavut when I visited this vast Canadian territory in May 2023. It is a geographical area where three official languages coexist, including Inuktut which is in the majority. Nunavut is a true reflection of the country’s diversity.

During my stay in this magnificent territory, I met a number of Indigenous people working to protect and promote their language and heritage, including Nunavut’s Languages Commissioner Karliin Aariak. In fact, the very first thing I heard from her was the issue of the non-inclusion of the Inuit language on federal election ballots.

She reiterated the importance of better protecting the Inuktut language in accordance with the Inuit Language Protection Act. The preamble of this act is unequivocal about the importance of protecting this language as “. . . a cultural inheritance and ongoing expression of Inuit identity . . . .”

In keeping with the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which stipulates that Indigenous peoples have the right to fully participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the state, the study of the pilot project at the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs would be part of the ongoing commitment to reconciliation with the First Peoples.

Rita Mae Brown also said, “Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides.” I couldn’t agree more.

Colleagues, let’s support our fellow Inuit citizens. I, therefore, encourage the Senate to authorize the Legal Committee to study the pilot project as soon as possible.

Qujannamiik. Thank you. Meegwetch.