Language funding

Funding is a major issue when it comes to language development for several reasons:

• Language communities believe that the funding they receive is inadequate to revitalize their language. The government allocates funding based on the size of the language community—not on its health. One question that people raised over and over was "How much money does the government spend on English language and literacy?"
• Funding is not available for critical positions, such as a curriculum specialist or a linguist; nor is funding identified specifically for resource materials
• Government funding is divided into many different "pots": Community Literacy Projects, Aboriginal Literacy, seniors' literacy, literacy for people with disabilities, the funding for Aboriginal language communities, and so on. The Dene Nation also has language funding. It is very difficult for communities to know who funds what. At the same time, funding guidelines tend to be inflexible, and may restrict the use of the money to one group of people—seniors, for example.
• Language communities need multi–year funding for continuity and consistency in projects and staff.

Possible role for the Literacy Council

People saw a definite role for the Literacy Council in the area of funding, both as an advocate for improved and more coordinated funding, and as an organization that could provide assistance to people in accessing funding. Some of the specific activities that people suggested we might become involved in included:

• Develop a book of funding sources, similar to the one the first Languages Commissioner prepared—one that is much more extensive than our current list
• Continue to offer proposal–writing workshops, but extend them. People felt one day was not enough to give people the skills they need. They also wanted sample proposals specifically for Aboriginal language projects
• Provide one–on–one hands–on–assistance to people to write proposals