June 16, 2021 \u2013 Ottawa, Ontario \u2013 The announcement of Canada\u2019s new Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages is a milestone in the long struggle to preserve our Inuit language, says the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). It is also very much in the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to see Robert Watt appointed as a Director,\u201d said Monica Ell-Kanayuk, President of ICC Canada. \u201cHe has distinguished himself in his career as a strong advocate for the Inuit language, in his home town of Kuujjuaq, throughout the Nunavik region, across northern Canada, and Inuit Nunaat. We are confident Inuktitut will be supported and strengthened as a result.\u201d Director Watt served as a 2018 ICC General Assembly delegate, and he is also a member of the Inuit Education Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday June 14, 2021 the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Steven Guilbeault, announced the new Commissioner, Ronald E. Ignace, a member of the Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia. The other directors are Georgina Liberty a member of the M\u00e9tis <\/em>Nation in Manitoba, and Joan Greyeyes a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation within Treaty 6 Territory in Saskatchewan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The creation of the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages (OCIL) is an important step in the implementation of Canada\u2019s Indigenous Languages Act, passed on June 21st<\/sup>, 2019. The OCIL will operate independently from the Government of Canada and support Indigenous peoples in revitalizing, maintaining, and strengthening Indigenous languages. It will also promote public awareness of Indigenous languages, undertake research on the provision of funding and on the use of Indigenous languages in Canada. It will provide culturally appropriate dispute resolution services and review complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe view this as an important milestone,\u201d said ICC Chair Dalee Sambo Dorough. \u201cAs preparations are being made to launch the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL) from 2022-2032, Canada\u2019s actions are a model for other countries to follow in the preservation and promotion of Indigenous languages.\u201d ICC\u2019s representative for the IDIL is Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Aluki Kotierk, a staunch advocate for the Inuit language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UNDRIP, Article 13 affirms the right to language providing in section 1: \u201cIndigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n -30-<\/p>\n\n\n\n