A First Nation legislator addressed Queen's Park in his own language, marking the first time a language other than English and French has officially been allowed in Ontario's legislative chamber.The Canadian PressDecades after being punished in a residential school for speaking his own language, First Nation MPP Sol Mamakwa rose during question period at Queen’s Park to ask a question in Oji-Cree.
"It is a great event, a historic event," he told the chamber, adding it was an "immense feeling" to address the legislature in the language of his ancestors. "Everyone that is listening: we need to revitalize our First Nations languages. Teach your children to speak their First Nation language and to be proud of it," he said.
Mamakwa, from Kingfisher Lake First Nation in northern Ontario, says the milestone is important because Indigenous people are losing their languages and his speech and question in the legislature will mark a step toward reconciliation.