Statement by Ronald E. Ignace, Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 29, 2023 /CNW/ - I honour and recognize behind this National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and this place of reconciliation we've come to, stands the efforts of many individuals, for which I am grateful.

We must also recall the undaunted spirit of so many Elders, language warriors, local leaders, and countless other unnamed or unknown champions of Indigenous Rights. We honour all those, past and present, who made this day possible, and we carry on in the memory of those who didn't make it home from the residential schools and honour the resilience of all survivors.

Also, its important we honour and recognize all the Canadians across the country and peoples around the world who commemorated those who didn't make it home, by demonstrations and displays of teddy bears and children's shoes on town hall steps and prayed for justice and reconciliation to the survivors.

Let us not forget what the Commissioner of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Honourable Sinclair stated, "Reconciliation is not an Indigenous problem, but a Canadian problem; it involves us all."

The Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages would not exist without the Indigenous Languages Act. I honour Prime Minister Trudeau for reaching out to our National First Nations, Inuit, and Metis leaders in the co-development of that Act, as well as the all-party support in both the House of Commons and Senate on the passage of Bill C-91 Indigenous languages Act. In its passage, Canada has taken an important step in making itself whole.

We look forward to the day Indigenous languages are embraced in the hearts of all but, more importantly, proudly heard on the lips of our children.

No language ought to stand in the shadow of others.

Kukwstetsemc (thank you)!
Stmel'qen:Ronald E. Ignace PhD
Commissioner and CEO of the Office of Commissioner of Indigenous Languages

SOURCE Office of The Commissioner of Indigenous Languages

All media inquiries, please contact: Debra Alivisatos, Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Language, 613-698-0120