The 2007 CTTC Award is awarded to M. Michel Buttiens
The 2007 Volunteer Award is awarded to; Mme. Kathleen Quarry Beaulieu
Address by Mr. Michel Parent, C.Tr
President of the Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council
Before the 48th Annual General Meeting
Of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Radisson Hotel - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thank you, Madam President
As you are aware, following a recommendation by UNESCO, the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages. UNESCO made this recommendation because it recognized «the crucial importance of languages when seen against the many challenges that humanity will have to face over the next few decades». Languages are seen as factors of social integration, sustainable development and cultural diversity.
Canada, you will recall, was a world leader when the time came for the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.
UNESCO invited all governments to «increase their own activities to foster respect for, and the promotion and protection of all endangered languages». It is from this perspective, against a backdrop of globalization, that 2008, the Year of languages, takes its full meaning and significance.
Currently, there are some 6700 living languages in the world. That being said, it must be noted that only 600 of them have a written tradition, that 49% of the world population speaks 15 of those languages, and that 8 languages are spoken by more than 100 million people.
Let us therefore be mindful of the fact that of the 6700 languages now spoken in the world, more than half may become extinct within a few generations, a threat faced indeed by a number of languages spoken here in Canada.
This country does have rather unique linguistic features. Under the Charter of Rights, every citizen is entitled to communicate with the courts and government institutions within federal jurisdiction in the official language of his or her choice. However, only 17.4% of all Canadians are bilingual.
And while the official languages represent the largest segment of the Canadian language picture, a large number of other facets are also involved. Indeed, with a strong Native presence, and with a growing rate of immigration over recent years, Canadian society is increasingly this multicultural mosaic we have been hearing about over the years.
Whether because of the growth of the non-official-language population, or because of the rapid expansion of our trading or other relations with communities all over the world as a result of globalization, for a country like ours, languages have become an unavoidable need.
They have also become an asset which has the potential to be, for us, a significant advantage in our world.
Because our government institutions are officially bilingual, while only a minority of our fellow citizens speak both official languages, and because our society has a long multilingual tradition which is only enhanced by increasing immigration, we have built, in this country, a linguistic infrastructure which is among the most developed in the world.
The language industry, which includes translation, interpretation and terminology, is first and foremost a communication industry. It is the essential bridge which allows mutual understanding between peoples and between cultures.
But while many challenges face translators, interpreters (like those who are with us in the booth today) and terminologists in Canada, they are small challenges indeed when compared to those our colleagues elsewhere in the world have to contend with.
In closing, in this International Year of Languages, let us keep in mind those who risk their safety and even their lives each day in order to facilitate this communication among peoples and cultures. Those interpreters who accompany a humanitarian organization or a team of journalists in a troubled region in the world. Those translators who live in fear of reprisals for having translated texts which are banned by the authorities. All those who have to go into exile with their families.
All of us, who dream of a better world, are one with them.