First Nation languages require the same official status as English and French for their survival
from Canada.com
Feds braced for lawsuit demanding official status for aboriginal languages: documents
BY RANDY BOSWELL, POSTMEDIA NEWS FEBRUARY 16, 2012
The Canadian government is braced for a possible lawsuit aimed at forcing it to give "certain aboriginal languages" the same official status as English and French, according to an access-to-information document obtained by Postmedia News.
The July 2010 briefing note to Heritage Minister James Moore, who also oversees the country's Official Languages Act, indicates that "the Assembly of First Nations is considering taking the government of Canada to court" to enshrine an unspecified number of indigenous languages as "official" in Canadian law.
The document advises Moore that if the subject arises, he should emphasize that the government is "committed to supporting the preservation and revitalization of First Nations, Metis and Inuit languages" and is currently "providing $16 million annually" for that purpose.
Alain Garon, a spokesman for the Ottawa-based Assembly of First Nations, said the organization is "not engaged in any lawsuit on aboriginal languages."
But the briefing note to Moore — dated July 23, 2010 — appears to have been prompted by an AFN communique issued a day earlier from the assembly's annual meeting in Winnipeg, where First Nations leaders stated that they "affirm the indigenous languages as the first languages of our nations and as official languages of Canada."
The perilous state of most aboriginal languages in Canada has become a pressing concern in recent years for indigenous communities, government agencies and linguistics experts.
Data gathered from the 2006 census showed that nearly all of the 60-plus aboriginal languages spoken in Canada are endangered, with only Cree and Ojibway among First Nations, and Inuktitut — the language spoken by Inuit — proving strong enough to sustain themselves in a country dominated by English or French speakers.
A Statistics Canada report issued in 2008 showed that between 2001 and 2006, the number of people speaking Haida, Tlingit and Malecite dropped by about 30 per cent each.
Last February, speaking on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, a UN-backed celebration of indigenous languages around the world, AFN chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo sounded an alarm about the "precarious position" of many of Canada's aboriginal languages.
"We take this opportunity to call on the government of Canada and all Canadians to partner with indigenous peoples in their efforts to revitalize our languages," Atleo, a hereditary chief from B.C.'s Ahousaht First Nation, said at the time.
"As the original languages of this land, indigenous languages require significant investment and it should be comparable to that provided for the two 'official' languages in Canada."
In the access document briefing Moore on the potential lawsuit, Heritage officials highlighted the government's investments in a $5-million-a-year Aboriginal Languages Initiative, an annual $8-million northern broadcasting fund and a $3-million program in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories to help provide services in aboriginal languages.
Similar support for First Nations languages in the Yukon was available under various transfer agreements, the document noted.
Background information accompanying the memo to Moore indicated that "the decline of aboriginal languages can largely be attributed to the long history of the removal of children from aboriginal communities through the Indian Residential School system, the migration of Aboriginal Peoples to urban settings and the impact of mass media."
Canada has a "rich diversity" of aboriginal languages, added the document, citing census data that shows 19 per cent of the country's indigenous people had "learned an aboriginal language as their mother tongue" as of 2006.
"The recommendation that aboriginal languages be granted status and funding equal to that of English and French is not new," the briefing note stated, pointing to the 2005 federal Task Force on Aboriginal Languages, which urged legislation "to recognize their constitutional status."
There is rising concern about the future of aboriginal language programs — as with all federal programs — under the Conservative government's planned across-the-board budget cuts of between five and 10 per cent, beginning this year.
This week, Moore announced $71,000 in funding to support Kaska language classes for members of the Liard First Nation in the Yukon, as well as $25,000 for Ontario's Alderville First Nation to improve the community's use of Ojibway.
"Our government recognizes the importance of First Nations, Inuit and Metis languages — they're clearly an integral part of our country's identity," Moore's spokesman, James Maunder, told Postmedia News on Thursday. "We also recognize that these languages face challenges in Canada today and are committed to supporting their preservation."
He gave no indication the government would consider granting official status to any aboriginal languages.
"The Constitution identifies English and French as our two official languages," said Maunder.