Victoria Native Friendship Centre loses vital funding for language revitalization program
Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC) staff worry they’ll have to scale back a program that teaches hundreds of people Indigenous languages.
Staff learned last month a federal funding contract would not be renewed for the Urban Indigenous Language Hub, which teaches seven languages, including Nuu-chah-nulth and Cree.
“It was really heartbreaking, to be honest, and at this point now I’m just determined to find a way to make it work,” said Lisa Mercure, VNFC’s Indigenous culture and traditions coordinator.
A previous two-year agreement with the federal Department of Canadian Heritage provided $516,600 to the program. The department does not publicly discuss funding requests, a spokesperson said in an email to CTV News.
“What we fear is what a delay or what a gap in this learning and teaching environment will mean for people in their progress as learners,” VNFC executive director Ron Rice said, noting many fluent speakers are nearing the end of their lives.
“When you think in terms of languages going extinct, that means people who speak it are dying.”
The funding — which helped pay for teachers, meals and transport for elders — was likely awarded to another Indigenous organization, Rice said.
“Indigenous language has been part of an assimilation experiment for the last four generations. It’s going to take us a little while to regain those skills,” he said.
“So to think that after three years or four years, you can take the funding and give it to somebody else, is only going to set them up for failure.”
The language hub has not lost all of its funding, however.
Moving forward, the plan is to use funds from the province and the National Association of Friendship Centres to offer a scaled-back version of the program, “including limiting or maybe having to cancel some classes,” Mercure said.
“In late November, I reached out to the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge and stressed B.C.'s commitment to working on long-term, predictable funding in partnership with Canada,” B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin said in a statement.
“Clearly there is more work to be done as Crown governments to support First Nations language revitalization."
VNFC staff are lobbying elected officials and are seeking community donations to support the language classes.
“It would be great to have some embedded, core funding,” Rice said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada to see warm summer, wildfire risks loom for some regions: forecast
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
3 Israeli soldiers killed in Rafah booby trap explosion, media say, as offensive widens
The Gaza health ministry called on Wednesday for ensuring safe pathways for the immediate entry of fuel and medical aid to Rafah and northern Gaza, according to a statement carried by Hamas media quoting spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Could a Senate bill cause age verification laws to apply to Netflix? Experts say yes
Canada's privacy czar and a government official are warning that a Senate bill proposing to block minors from 'sexually explicit material' online could apply to streaming services such as Netflix.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there's a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.