Multiculturalism means embracing Indigenous, minority languages
Language is the foundational dimension of most cultures
The time has come for Canada to revisit its approach to languages. With recent calls from top Inuit figures to make Inuktitut an official language of Canada, alongside English and French, and an earlier lawsuit over the right for students to be educated in Inuktitut in Nunavut, there is no better time for this conversation.
This year is the inaugural year of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, the 30th anniversary year of the UN Declaration on Minorities and the 40th anniversary year of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canada is renowned for its multiculturalism. Yet, a still unsettled issue in Canadian multiculturalism pertains to languages. As a human rights researcher, I believe multiculturalism isn’t truly possible without multilingualism.
Language is the foundational dimension of most cultures, and therefore the maintenance, development and use of a culture’s language is indispensable for its preservation and practice.
Canada’s historical oppression of Indigenous Peoples directly concerns languages. The residential schools system specifically targeted Indigenous cultures and languages to such an extent that many argue it constituted genocide, especially after the mass graves of Indigenous children were discovered.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as Indigenous leaders and activists, explicitly state that reconciliation and rebuilding in Canada cannot happen without the revival and reaffirmation of Indigenous languages.
Historically, the issue of languages was a matter of colonialism and dominance in Canada. Making English and French the country’s official
languages was an administrative decision by the ruling colonial powers of the time, taken without consideration to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples or other settler minority groups.
Canadian bilingualism was formalized first in 1969, and later in the 1982 Charter of
Rights and Freedom, and accommodated the Englishspeaking majority and Frenchspeaking minority. But it left aside speakers of multiple Indigenous and other languages.
Linguistic issues cannot be resolved simply because majority groups out-vote minority groups.
The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that people who belong to linguistic minorities are guaranteed the right to enjoy their own culture and use their own language.
This is a binding legal provision for every country that’s ratified the treaty, including Canada.
Furthermore, the 1992 United Nations Declaration on Minorities states that countries must protect the existence and the linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage the promotion of that identity by adopting laws and other measures.
Nations are supposed to ensure that minority populations have adequate opportunities to learn their native languages, or to receive instruction in their native languages.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed into law in Canada through Bill C-15 also states that Indigenous Peoples are guaranteed the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit their languages to future generations.
It states that countries should provide Indigenous Peoples, particularly children and including those living outside their communities, with education in their own language.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) endorses the institutionalized use of minority languages in justice, education, elections, policing, mass media and other areas of public life.
It’s clear that international standards explicitly demand that minority languages be used and institutionalized in virtually all spheres of life.
This year is a perfect time for a broad public discussion about the use and status of languages in Canada.