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House Hansard - 339

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 19, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24
Mr. Gord Johns
  • Sep/19/24 7:07:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am actually calling for the government to right this wrong at the earliest opportunity and commit to including adequate long-term funding for first nations language programs in British Columbia in the fall economic statement. An essential part of reconciliation is addressing the enormous harms first nations have experienced throughout their 200-year history of colonization, including the devastating loss of language and culture. The government needs to listen to what first nations need and fulfill its legal obligations with respect to language revitalization. In the Indigenous Languages Act, the government declared it was “committed to providing adequate, sustainable and long-term funding for the reclamation, revitalization, maintenance and strengthening of Indigenous languages”. However, the current funding is not enough to maintain existing programming let alone meet the growing demand. Will the government take its obligations seriously and commit to ensuring fair, adequate and long-term funding for indigenous language programming to benefit generations to come?
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