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ABOUT
LACC COALITION

MISSION & HISTORY.

Language rights protect the rights of individuals and groups to choose which language(s) they use in private as well as in public interactions, such as legal, health, educational or political access to information and services. Language rights are also a tool of identity and an important social determinant of health. Many nations, including Canada, may not deliberately discriminate against minority languages or those not deemed not to be the “official” ones, but if broader language access is not strategically enabled, organizations and individuals end up being excluded and discriminated against based on their language comprehension and fluency.

While advocacy for equality of access for ALL languages does not have a long history in Canada, worldwide efforts to promote universal linguistic rights while monitoring the state of minority and indigenous languages have been ongoing for fifty years (Minority and Indigenous Trends, 2019). The constantly changing and evolving views on “language access“, influenced by migration patterns and technology, have been developing against a historical trend of tying language to national identity and borders.

Here in Canada, the recently co-developed National First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Languages Act (Bill C-91) that recognized the rights of Indigenous languages not only expanded our national conversation around “official languages”, but also challenged the status quo to reimagine what access in all other languages carried by the waves of immigration to Canada since 18th century onward could be.

The idea of a Language Advocacy Day in Canada was largely inspired by the efforts of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL), which has hosted National Language Day in Washington, DC for over 40 years.

The initative is currently supported solely by the MCIS Language Solutions Social Benefit Fund.  The core team LACC team is grateful to a number of organizations, including early partners such as those listed below who have been providing a continuous support to this initiative.

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ADVOCACY RESOURCES.

Alongside our local network of 30+ organizations and businesses that signed up to actively support the initiative, we work with a range of partners who, like us, are passionate about building a more inclusive and accessible Canada.


 
Through joint publishing, research and resource sharing, we look for ways to help our partners contribute to shared agendas. 

 

Contact us to learn more about how to get involved.

JOIN US.

NON-PROFITS/ NGOs/ SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS/ COALITIONS

BUSINESSES/ PRIVATE ENTERPRISES/ ETHNIC MEDIA

ACADEMIA/ RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

SUPPORTERS and COLLABORATORS.

Joint National Committee on Languages (JNCL)

Joint National Committee on Languages (JNCL)

We speak language policy to power. Today, JNCL-NCLIS represents more than 300,000 professionals from nonprofits, companies, and research institutes, forming an all-inclusive network of all areas of the language field: exchanges, research, technology, translation, interpretation, localization, testing, and others.

The National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas.

Knowledge Equity Lab

Knowledge Equity Lab

The Knowledge Equity Lab is an inclusive, trans-disciplinary, experimental space. Based at the Centre for Critical Development Studies at UTSC, it is an incubator for a community of practitioners advancing knowledge equity, centering marginalised and under-represented knowledge-makers as a means of social justice and change.

Battista Smith, Migration Law Group

Battista Smith, Migration Law Group

Our Toronto-based immigration lawyers believe that migration is a fundamental freedom and that immigration barriers to Canada should exist only when necessary. Canadian diversity is our strength, and immigrants are welcomed to Canada.

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