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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 339

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 19, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Sep/19/24 3:15:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, communities across the country are in crisis. They do not have the resources they need to support people who are struggling with trauma, mental health and substance use disorders, but the Liberals keep delaying support. Today, the Nuu-chah-nulth nations declared a state of emergency. They are pleading for federal help. This comes after every single substance use and addictions program application that they applied for was denied. What more will it take for the Liberals to finally provide the mental health resources that these nations desperately need?
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Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Sep/19/24 7:01:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am coming here tonight in reference to a question I asked on April 10, when I was calling on the government to honour its commitments to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action on indigenous languages. I would be remiss if I did not talk about a legend, Oh Ha Kuum, which references a lady of high standing. Really, it means a queen in Nuu-chah-nulth language. Last month, the Nuu-chah-nulth people lost Tuu paat mit, whose English name was Julia Lucas, and she was pre-deceased by her partner in life, Simon Lucas, who was, like her, a great leader of their people and for all indigenous people, not just Nuu-chah-nulth people, but people across British Columbia and Canada. Tuu paat mit honoured me with the name Yaac'aaqsts, which means “one who walks amongst us” and has provided me with advice and guidance over the years. I want to thank her family and her for the name. She will be greatly missed by all those who loved her and by the many in whose lives she made a difference. Tuu paat mit was one of only a few fluent speakers of the Hesquiaht dialect of the Nuu-chah-nulth language. She began teaching in the elementary school at Hot Springs Cove 40 years ago, with very few resources and much less time. She taught the Hesquiaht language to the children with just a half hour a day allocated to cultural education. With three other fluently speaking elders, she worked in the final years of her life to mentor young apprentices to pass on the language to the next generation. Her life's work will inspire others to carry on because future generations depend on it. Tuu paat mit knew there was nothing more important to the health and social well-being of indigenous people, their families, their communities, their economies and their spirits than the survival of their language. In follow-up to that, across British Columbia, first nations people are facing the loss of language holders such as Tuu paat mit, and there is an urgent need to invest in language revitalization before it is too late. In British Columbia, nearly two-thirds of fluent speakers are older than 65, and seven languages have only five or fewer speakers left. First nations have fought to keep their languages alive, and between 2018 and 2022, there was a 20% increase in the number of people learning their language in B.C. While the number of language learners is growing, the number of remaining fluent speakers is falling. As I outlined when I talked about Tuu paat mit, there is grave concern that the progress made in recent years will be lost without urgent government support for indigenous language programming. However, instead of investing in language revitalization at this critical time, the federal government is cutting funding. The Liberals' new funding formula has actually led to a 60% reduction in funding for first nations language programs in British Columbia. That funding formula does not consider British Columbia in the unique context of being home to more than half of indigenous languages in Canada, and across the province, in 204 first nations, there are 36 unique languages and more than 95 dialects. The First Peoples' Cultural Council, a first nations-led Crown corporation working to revitalize first nations languages in British Columbia, has written to the government about the funding cliff it is facing. This year's budget provided significantly less funding than in previous years, and the drop in revenue has opened the door to the loss of hundreds of jobs, service cuts and cancelled community programs. These cuts put the preservation and revitalization of first nations languages and cultural heritage at risk.
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