Letter from the Executive Director, July 2022

Join us for a Party in the Park!

It is an exciting time for us around the office (and zoom space) as we are getting ready for our first in-person Schmoozer on July 20 in Park Jarry. In a great stroke of luck, we will be sharing the park with the amazing production All Shall Be Well being put on by Repercussion Theatre. We will be there to meet you and chat about how you are doing, how your practice is going and how COVID has affected you, and your work, over the past two years. So come hang out with us and then go see a show in the park!

We are also busy getting ready for our Annual General Meeting, coming up on August 15th. We would be happy to welcome any members who are interested in participating and we will be sending details out soon. We are planning to do this one in-person and I hope you are able to join us.

As well, we are looking for new members of our Board of Directors, if you would like to work with our team of arts professionals to support Quebec’s community of English-speaking artists do not hesitate to contact me at Vanessa@localhost. We are particularly look for artists from the following disciplines – Music, Film and Television, Arts Presenter and Corporate. If you can dedicate some time to work with us you will be a part of a dynamic groups of fascinating and talented artists all focused on improving the working environment for our community.

Lastly, and on a less pleasant note, we have had lots of questions about Bill 96 and the impact it will have on our community. At this point, it isn’t clear. The government have passed the bill but are taking a year to reflect on how to implement it. At the moment, it does not look like it will directly affect the work of an individual artist, unless you need a team of 25 or more people to produce your piece, and then the laws around working in French would be applicable. We are keeping a close eye on topic, and will share information as soon as we have it.

Meanwhile – Enjoy the warm weather and come out to see us!

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Vanessa Herrick
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.