Languages of the Heart

Remarks by Hon. David Kilgour, MP for Edmonton Southeast

Fourth Annual International Mother Language Day (UNESCO), City Hall

Edmonton, February 21, 2004

Namaste, ne ha ma, sas-ree-call,  asaalam-alekum, buenos dias, guten tag, jambo, my ri, chao qui vi, bonjour, hello!

It is a great pleasure to be with you all today to celebrate our diverse mother languages.

Many of you speak three or more languages, which may put all of us in the presence of genius.  Several studies have shown that people who learn a second language are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who don’t.  Perhaps we should think about sending all of you to Ottawa?

  It is abundantly clear that Canada’s bilingual and multilingual nature makes us more competitive overseas and increases tolerance, diversity and understanding here at home.  Learning to speak in as many tongues as possible allows us, as world citizens, to experience life more fully. 

Today, we celebrate the role that primary or mother languages play in our lives. A mother language is the language that is closest to our hearts—quite often the one we learn as a child.  Preserving this language allows us to maintain our most powerful method of communication and expression.  Each language has its own distinct way of seeing the world, and all of us are impoverished when a language ceases to be passed on and spoken.

  According to UNESCO, half of the world’s 6000 to 7000 languages are in danger of extinction.  In fact, 96% of the world’s languages are spoken by just 4% of its people. When a language dies, so too do its stories, its history and its culture.

  All of us have benefited from the many language communities that have made Alberta their home.  Here in Edmonton, there are approximately 183,000 people whose mother tongue is neither English nor French.  This is evidenced by the wide variety of language programs offered through the International Heritage Languages Association—everything from Gujarati to Kurdish to Ukrainian.  The 22 IHLA member schools provide weekly classes that allow students to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the cultures, traditions and values associated with each language.

Finally, would anyone here not work to see federal funding for heritage languages, which was cut in the early ‘90s, restored? Like you, I think it should be restored—and should never have been cut—and I commit to you to work hard for its restoration. All of your help on this will be important.

Many thanks to the IHLA for inviting me here today.  Your continuing efforts to promote diversity and language education throughout Alberta enrich us all. Many thanks as well to each person here who has worked to preserve their mother tongue and teach it to the next generation. We are all in your debt.

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