For Whom the Language Bell Tolls

Address by Hon. David Kilgour

IHLA International Heritage Language Day

Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont
Polish Veterans Hall, Edmonton
February 19th, 2005

Words are more than just mere means of communication. Behind each word there is a universe of meaning and within each phrase there is an ocean of emotion. The more words we acquire the greater our ability to understand our world. The more languages we learn, the greater the number of perspectives through which we can view reality.

Language enables us to tell ourselves the stories about ourselves that not only give us our identity but also enable us to understand the world around us. Each language serves as a different window into the world thereby giving us different perspectives on reality. As the famed Italian movie director Federico Fellini said, “A different language is a different vision of life.”

Importance of Languages

Promoting the continued existence of world languages is thus beneficial to humanity generally, in our quest to understand each other better. When we have a wide diversity of languages, all of them are mutually able to enrich each other, which leads to greater understanding among peoples and nations. We can see this in the way that languages often borrow words from each other when one language lacks an expression that another has.

Every time a language dies, its lessons of the past grow silent. Every time a language dies, the voices of ancestors grow distant. Every time a language dies, we lose much more than a means of communication. We lose a part of ourselves. A part of the story of humanity is obscured forever.

As globalization continues to make the world a smaller almost by the hour, we have a greater opportunity to interact with and learn from people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 

We are also faced with the challenge of dealing with the homogenizing tendencies of a global society. 

Disappearing Languages

There are currently over 6500 languages in existence. In a hundred years, linguists predict that there we will lose at least half these languages if nothing is done to preserve them. That is why the work of groups such as IHLA is so vitally important. Your commitment and dedication to the preservation and promotion of linguistic variety enables us to benefit from globalization through a greater sense of community without sacrificing diversity.

Conclusion 

I’m inspired by the IHLA’s dedication and I think your efforts speak volumes when one considers that there will be over 2000 students enrolled in eighteen different international language courses this year in Edmonton. Your achievements are all the more impressive given the present lack of federal funding for non-official languages. 

Despite the recognition in the Multiculturalism Act that language is an important component of any culture and that it is clearly advantageous for Canadians to broaden their horizons by knowing more languages, there is still virtually no federal funding to support groups like yours. I congratulate the government of Alberta for the $300 000 grant it has made to the IHLA.

This must be addressed and I commit to you to fight to have public money made available for the preservation and promotion of heritage languages.

On the streets of Edmonton today, one can hear Punjabi, Chinese, Polish, German, Ukranian, Arabic, Cree, Dutch, Tagalog, Spanish, Vietnamese and Italian to name only a few. 

Thanks to you, the next generation will continue to be blessed with a rich diversity of ways to understand the human experience.

I applaud your efforts and wish you continued success in the important work you all do.