Language Watch Canada (Sep 2019)

September 2019 Edition

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This month is filled with highs and lows for different language communities across Canada. Settle in and read up on the newest issues that are affecting Canadians.

1. Ontario won’t pay for French-language university until 2023

(Sep 10, 2019)

This article focuses on how Ontario taxpayers won’t have to pay for the new French-language university until after the next provincial election in order to give the government time to focus on balancing the budget.

2. Not enough funding to cover all Indigenous language program requests, group says

(Sep 6, 2019)

This article delves into how there is not enough money available to cover what Saskatchewan groups want to do with Indigenous language instruction.

3. New $1 Billion Federal-Provincial-Territorial Protocol for Agreements to Support Education for Official-Language Minorities and Second-Language Learning

(Sep 4, 2019)

This news release declares that the Government of Canada will invest $1 billion over four years to support French education in minority language communities, education in English for English-speaking communities in Quebec as well as second-language instruction over the next 3 years.

4. Stop assimilating: Sask. schools aren't doing enough to offer Indigenous language education

(Sep 3, 2019)

This article details one mother's struggle to find a primary school in the Regina area that offers any sort of Saulteaux language program, revealing a deeper issue at hand.

5. Manitoba Liberals promise to invest in French education, child-care spaces

(Sep 6, 2019)

This article talks about the Manitoba Liberals promise to invest in French-language education and services. Leader Dougald Lamont says French people, language and culture enrich the province but there hasn’t been enough investment in their preservation.

6. Demand for Cree-language education outpaces teacher supply

(Sep 19, 2019)

This article reveals how Cree language programs have become so popular in Saskatchewan that school divisions are struggling to find enough fluent teachers.

7. Nuxalk Nation puts up stop signs in traditional language

(Sep 17, 2019)

This article celebrates how the the Nuxalk Nation, near Bella Coola, B.C., is installing stop signs in the Nuxalk language as a way to promote their traditional language.

8. Quebec Cree pass language act as its 1st-ever legislation

(Sep 24, 2019)

This article announces that the Quebec Cree passed their government's first-ever law—the Cree Language Act of Eeyou Istchee. The act sets out a plan to measure the health of the Cree language spoken on the east side of James Bay and put in motion ways to reclaim, revitalize and strengthen it.

9. Canada’s Inuit to get unified orthography

(Sep 27, 2019)

This article describes how Inuit in Canada are getting a unified orthography for the first time since Inuktut writing systems were introduced by Christian missionaries in the 18th century. Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait was developed by Inuktut specailists and is based on the Roman alphabet. Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is a common set of symbols for Inuktut sounds that allows written text to reflect spoken words in any dialect of Inuktut.

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