Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press

In the face of the Legault government’s refusal to exempt them from Bill 96, specifically on the language of instruction, Quebec’s Aboriginal communities are asking the Superior Court to invalidate sections of the law that an appeal filed Thursday said violated their ancestry Right.

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) and the First Nations Education Council (FNEC) believe the provisions of the law deny their indigenous rights to indigenous people. They are asking the court to invalidate 14 articles of this law.

“There is not a nation on the planet that will impose laws on another nation and its language,” Chief John Martin, a member of the FNEC Chiefs Committee, warned in an interview with The Canadian Press.

John Martin is leader of the Micmac community of Gesgapegiag, a community where Micmac is the native language, English is the second language and French, which is very little used, is the third language, a consequence of colonialism.

And therein lies the problem, particularly for those communities where English was imposed by the colonizer, and whose young people are struggling to get through secondary school, a problem “which is directly related to the fact that in order to graduate from secondary school and a To have the Ministry of Education, all your credits in French must have been taken at secondary school,” explains chef Martin.

“The culture in our communities is not francophone. Aboriginal languages ​​are very present and the second language is English. When we are confronted with a language that we do not hear, that we are not exposed to, it is extremely difficult for our students.

Marked gap after colonial language

The numbers don’t lie about that either. Studies cited by AFNQL and Council show that 85% of Indigenous students from Francophone communities have access to higher education, compared to 35% among students from Anglophone Indigenous communities.

Be that as it may, for Indigenous communities, the rights to educational self-determination and self-government are First Nations prerogatives, as enshrined in the 1982 Constitutional Act, particularly in relation to education, teaching, and the practice of ancestral languages. The French requirement is less problematic than Quebec’s interference in a constitutionally recognized judiciary.

“It’s unacceptable that Quebec wants to do that. It’s ours. These are our innate rights. These are rights protected in the Constitution and we will not accept the fact that another government here will legislate on indigenous languages.”

French protect

Furthermore, chef Martin hastens to add: “We understand that Quebecers want to save the French language. If you look at the map of North America, this is the only place where French is spoken. We have no problem with that, but doing it at the expense of our languages, our youth, our future is unacceptable. It is a continuation of what we call very colonialist policies.

First Nations have criticized the government of Quebec for failing to take their demands and ideas into account and for not consulting them before the bill was introduced. However, the law will have a significant impact in several areas of its development in the medium and long term.

First Nations Quebec-Labrador Assembly chief Ghislain Picard believes the Quebec government is employing insidious methods of assimilation that date from another century.

Sipi Flamand, chief of Manawan’s Atikamekw Council, adds that the law is a direct attack on First Nations and Inuit languages ​​and cultural identities, and an extension of policies aimed at inciting systemic racism against them.

A law that the Aborigines do not want

In Quebec, First Nations Relations Minister Ian Lafrenière acknowledged that there is “a monstrous dropout rate (…)” in certain communities. “Our intention is that First Nations and Inuit youth have access to higher education.”

He reminds that his government is working on a bill “that is really adapted to indigenous languages ​​and cultures” and he promises to meet with the communities to consult them on this matter.

He refuses to accept the First Nations argument that Quebec does not need to legislate on language or education for Aboriginal people, period. For the minister, this is the only way to find a solution: “I understand that we have two visions (…) There is nothing simple, but if I don’t have a law as a government, I don’t make any commitments, it will work itself out change very little on our side.