Has Canada’s Constitution grown enough to include Inuktitut?

At midnight between March 31 and April 1, 1999, the linguistic map of Canada changed. At the stroke of the clock, Canada suddenly had a jurisdiction where the majority of its people spoke neither English nor French. In the 2001 Nunavut Household Survey, three-quarters of Nunavut’s population identified Inuktitut/Inuinnaqtun as the first language learned at home.

The drafters of the Canadian Constitution and the federal Official Languages Act never envisioned a situation where an entire jurisdiction would use a language other than those of the “two founding peoples.” The federal government offers provincial and territorial governments funding to ensure that the minority language (i.e., English in Quebec and French outside of Quebec) is not swamped by the majority language. The principle that Canada is, at the federal level, bilingual, is one of the most important pillars of Canadian federalism. And that is as it should be.

But where does that leave Nunavut? Its legislature debates in Inuktitut. Most of its schools are moving toward teaching in Inuktitut. And by 2020, its government is expected to be using Inuktitut as its working language. Despite this, Nunavut’s linguistic reality is not recognized by the Canadian Constitution, whose drafters could not imagine that someday Canada would have a territory where most of the population would speak a language that is neither English nor French.

Canadian common law (i.e., law made by judges in their decisions) recognizes that legislation cannot foresee all future circumstances. As a result, the Supreme Court of Canada itself has ruled that the Constitution of Canada is like a “living tree” — it grows with, and adapts to, changes in society by allowing for progressive interpretation. This allows the Constitution to continue to reflect society’s values and priorities without the necessity of having to amend it on a regular basis.

If Inuktitut is to buck the ongoing trend of Aboriginal languages and survive to become a thriving, relevant language, the Government of Canada will need to recognize that the Constitution has grown a new branch. Indeed, Inuktitut offers Canada one of the best opportunities to show the world that it takes seriously its commitment to protect Canada’s aboriginal languages. It is also an opportunity to show that it takes pride in supporting the social and cultural development of the majority in Nunavut, while at the same time protecting the rights of the territory’s official language minorities.

Anthony Saez
Iqaluit