A Letter from Miranda Castravelli, ELAN's new Executive Director

Dear members,

It is with great pleasure that I address you officially for the first time. With its combination of advocacy, artistry and outreach, ELAN has long been positioned as an important hub at the centre of the greater arts community. ELAN also offers its members a genuine place where their voices will be heard, and where they have the ability to effect change. I am very proud to be a part of this important work.

The sector is not without its challenges though, as you well know. It is still early days, but already several concerns have been brought up that seem to me in need of addressing. Chief among these being regular employment for artists that is ongoing and sustainable. We must work on the recognition that art IS a real job, and has greater societal value than it gets credit for. There are also real concerns for English speakers in the province and how they get access to the same services as their French counterparts. Issues of Equity and Diversity are also always foremost on our minds, especially in today’s political climate of growing conservatism.

But recognizing these issues is just the first step. We need to work towards implementing practical solutions with tangible results. As we face a year of uncertainty ahead, I ask that you, our community, engage with us. Lend us your experience and your expertise. We’ll be reaching out to you in the coming months so you can let us know directly what is important to you.

As well, please keep abreast of our ongoing government initiatives. When we can, we will engage you, the front-line experts, in whatever capacity you have appetite for. More advocacy news will be coming soon.

With mutual respect and a common purpose, we can achieve great things, even in adversity. I hope you will join me on this journey, and I look forward to getting to know you all better in the coming months.

With Warm Regards,

Miranda Castravelli
Executive Director

Land Acknowledgement

ELAN is an official minority language organization within a country that recognizes two languages as official. ELAN is located in Tiohtià:ke, the original name for Montreal in Kanien’kéha, the language of the Mohawk—also known as Mooniyang, which is the Anishinaabeg name given to the city by the Algonquin. While we are based in this city, our projects have also taken place in many regions across Quebec.

We acknowledge the colonial origin of English and French in Canada, and recognize that both languages benefit from official status throughout the land. The province that we know as Quebec is an amalgamation of the traditional territories of the Innu and Inuit nations, Algonquian nations, as well as the Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Kanien’kéha and Anishinaabemowin are but two of the original languages of this province; Atikamekw, Cree, Inuktitut, and Innu-aimun are also among the many Indigenous languages spoken across Quebec as majority languages, all well before French and English.

ELAN acknowledges the important work being done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to revive the traditional languages of these territories, and their advocacy for the official status of Indigenous languages.