The Council of Indigenous Peoples paid a policy canvass and observation visit to Canada from July 1 to July 10. Led by Minister Icyang‧Parod, the 24-member delegation included nine mayors from indigenous townships, the chairpersons of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation and Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation, the Dean of National Dong Hwa University School of Law Professor Chih-Wei Tsai, and other CIP colleagues. During the visit, a Taiwan-Canada bilateral dialogue on indigenous policiy was held on July 5. Attendees included Mr. Paul Pelletier, Director-General of Indigenous Languages, Community and Identity, Canadian Heritage, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Canada Mr. Wen-yi Chen, and Professor Scott Simon of the University of Ottawa.  

The theme of the dialogue was “Taiwan/Canada Bilateral Language Revitalization Promotion and Development.” Director-General Paul Pelletier started the event by discussing the current state and development of indigenous languages in Canada. Among Canada’s 1.7 million indigenous people, about 60% of Inuit, 21.3% of the First Nations peoples, and only 1.7% of the Métis can speak their native tongue. Canada passed the Indigenous Languages Act in 2019 to support the preservation, revitalization, and maintenance of the vitality of Canada’s indigenous languages. Mr. Lowking, CEO of the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation, gave a presentation on indigenous language policy development in Taiwan, in which she illustrated the history of Taiwan's language policy, shared Taiwan’s policy implementation experiences after the passage of the Indigenous Languages Development Act in 2017, and discussed the future of indigenous language policy development and implementation on the island.

CIP Minister Icyang pointed out that the legislative processes and the development of indigenous languages in Taiwan and Canada are comparable, and that each side has much to learn from the other. Taiwan’s Indigenous Languages Development Act promotes indigenous language rectification through the establishment of “the use of indigenous languages in the public sector, a training system for indigenous language teachers, a certification system for indigenous languages, and media and research institutions.” These initiatives and their achievements impressed and the CIP members’ Canadian counterparts and promised to offer them real benefits.

Minister Icyang further stated that the policy dialogue was successful in encouraging continued, in-depth cooperation between Taiwan and Canada and in creating a solid platform for bilateral exchange.