QUESTION PERIOD — Crown-Indigenous Relations
Support for Indigenous Languages
September 28, 2023
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
September 30 will mark the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. There will be no celebrations or festivities on that day. Instead, Canadians are called upon to reflect on the legacy of residential schools and contemplate how we can further the cause of reconciliation.
Indigenous peoples and Indigenous governments have been calling for the federal government to recognize Indigenous languages as official languages. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and parliamentary committees have stressed the importance of recognizing Indigenous languages as our first languages and furthering the cause of reconciliation. In their Calls for Justice, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls said:
We call upon all governments to recognize Indigenous languages as official languages, with the same status, recognition, and protection provided to French and English.
Senator Gold, will the government heed this call and commit to recognizing Indigenous languages as official languages?
While French and English are the two official languages recognized in our Constitution, as we all know, the reality is that there are over 70 Indigenous languages spoken across this country. Many of those languages, as we also know, tragically, are in vulnerable situations and need proactive protection.
However, a constitutional amendment is a complicated thing. That said, we can and must be lifting up, protecting and celebrating Indigenous languages. The government is committed to that and to supporting Indigenous languages as part of reconciliation efforts. Those have included the adoption of the Indigenous Languages Act and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP. Also, for example, the government recently recommitted itself to advancing access to federal services in Indigenous languages, as laid out in the UNDRIP Act Action Plan from this past July.
This is and will remain a government priority.
