Language centre announced

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Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps announced Dec. 19, 2002 that $172.5 million in funding will be available for an 11-year project geared towards retaining and revitalizing First Nations, Metis and Inuit languages and culture in Canada.

During her opening comments in a media teleconference, Copps said the announcement was the beginning of a process for reconciliation, that Aboriginal stories were absent from the pages of Canadian history books.

"It is not just about language and culture retention, it is about affirmation and reconciliation. Aboriginal languages, stories and heritage are the foundation of Canada's diversity. These languages must be cherished because they are unique on the face of the globe. They help shape the identity and the meaning of Canada.

"Canadian history now is a reflection of European-based heritage. That has to change if we are to truly reflect a Canada of all cultures and languages, and one of the ways of changing it is by investing in language and culture," she said.

Initially the announcement stated that a centre for language was going to be established, but callers during the teleconference wanted to know where the centre would be located. Copps said that a location for the centre was not going to be a major goal for the project at this time.

"At this point we are not focusing on bricks and mortar. We are actually focusing on communities, and on capabilities developed through technology. So the physical centre certainly won't be the focus of the initiative. Hopefully it will be the communities," she said.

The project will involve three phases. The first phase will be to extend the current languages initiative, which will be $5 million for 2003 and 2004.

The second phase will be to establish a predominantly Aboriginal taskforce reporting to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. For two years Canada's Aboriginal languages initiative will allow the taskforce to complete its work and make recommendations based on community needs. The taskforce would be composed of Aboriginal people who are experienced in language and culture at a community level.

The third and final phase will create an Aboriginal Languages and Cultural Centre, a not-for-profit corporation under the stewardship of Aboriginal people, to begin in 2004-2005.

"It will address issues of the loss of knowledge of traditional languages and cultures by Aboriginal people, including those who attended residential schools. The intention will be to actually work with programs in the education system and also in the child care level. We are very keen on working with the target age of children from zero to 5. They are very, very open to language learning. We are also hoping to bring to the table some cultural partners that will see Aboriginal stories brought to life," said Copps.

Copps said quoted Statistics Canada research that reports that close to half of the Aboriginal languages in Canada are near extinction or endangered and 10 once flourishing languages have become extinct over the last 100 years. "There are allegations that there was a suppression of these languages and cultures through government policies. So just as we work to promote the French and English languages when they are in minority situations, we want to promote and protect Aboriginal languages that are the most endangered languages of all in this country," she said.

"Once the language is retained and if we have young people who are speakers, we'll need media, we'll need theatre, we'll need books and television shows. It is also targeting the Elders in the communities, who are still Aboriginal language speakers. We want to stop the loss of the languages and we know that they are on the verge of disappearing from this generation," the minister said.

"We want to create a vehicle for retention and once we've got the retention with children, want to make sure that the children can utilize their languages. So in future cultural developments, thy can tell their stories in their languages and not in a language that was imposed on them," Copps said.

The minister also spoke about the expense of language materials, such as books and audiocassettes.

"That is where we, the government, need to play a role. At the moment in the French and English minority language systems, we provide a top-up to cover the extra costs. That comes with doing books in a minority language. These are some of the issues that we are going to be looking at globally with the centre," she said.