Singer Elisapie’s fourth album, Inuktitut, has been nominated for album of the year at the 2025 Juno Awards being held this weekend in Vancouver.

The album features covers of 10 pop and classic rock songs, including the Rolling Stones’s “Wild Horses” and Metallica’s “The Unforgiven,” re-imagined in Inuktitut. Inuktitut is the first language of 33,790 Inuit in Canada, according to the 2021 Census.

Elisapie’s nomination offers a good opportunity to reflect on the situation of Inuktitut and how creative work, including music, helps promote it.

Our work touches on the inter-generational transmission of Inuktitut. We share perspectives as a Qallunaaq (non-Inuk) linguist (Richard) and as an Inuk school teacher (Sarah) in Nunavik, with Sarah’s personal experiences in the community highlighted.

Together, we have co-taught courses for Inuit teachers in Puvirnituq and Ivujivik. We are also both affiliated with a research group focused on Indigenous education based at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Music in Inuktitut

Sarah notes that:

I was amazed that [Elsipasie] could make the long words in Inuktitut fit with the rhythm of the music; she did it so precisely. It took me back to the 1980s, when I was growing up. It would have been nice if songs like these had been interpreted back then. It’s been a long time coming, but it shows that nothing is impossible. The songs sound so natural in Inuktitut.

On the day we talked about this story, Sarah remembered:

I was at the Snow Festival yesterday [in Puvirnituq], and some of the teenagers knew all the words to her songs and were singing along. We didn’t have that when I was growing up.

She remembers first seeing Elisapie sing in the early 1990s at one of the first snow festivals in Puvirnituq.

Elisapie’s album has also sparked interest outside of Canada, with stories in such venues as Rolling Stone, Vogue and Le Monde.

Beyond how Elisapie beautifully interprets the songs, creative choices like using throat singing on the first track, “Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven),” and stunning music videos showcasing life in the North brings the language to a wider audience.

The album’s cover art features the word Inuktitut, ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ, in syllabics — a writing system originally use for Cree and adapted to Inuktitut, where the individual symbols represent consonants and the way they point represents vowels.

Diversity of the Inuit language

The word Inuktitut itself means “like the Inuit,” and is the name for part of a wider language continuum spoken across the North American Arctic. This language continuum includes Iñupiaq in Alaska, Uummarmiutun, Sallirmiutun and Inuinnaqtun in the Western Canadian Arctic, Inuktitut in the Eastern Arctic, Inuttut in Labrador and Kalaallisut in Greenland.

This abundance of names reflects a diversity of varieties, each with their own pronunciations and differences in grammar and vocabulary stretching across Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland.

Speakers in each community look to their Elders as models of how the language should be spoken. While this multiplicity of dialects poses challenges for translation and creating teaching materials, each variety marks local identity and links generations.

This diversity also fascinates linguists, as each variety attests to a different way of organizing the unconscious rules of grammar in the human mind.

For instance, Inuktitut has a rich system of tense markers on verbs, signalling events that just happened, happened earlier today, before today or long ago. Inuinnaqtun, to the west, lacks most of these tense markers, but instead allows more complex combinations of sounds.

A role model for youth

Sarah stresses the importance of Elisapie’s music for the language:

It’s so impressive that people like Elisapie are doing such amazing things with the language. She grew up around the same time as me and when I was in school there were so few teaching materials in Inuktitut, and we focused more on speaking than reading and writing. Even if her main goal might not have been to promote the language, she’s doing it, because kids listen to her. More teenagers are willing to sing in Inuktitut now because they have role models like her and Beatrice Deer.

Deer is an Inuk and Mohawk musician from Quaqtaq, Nunavik, who also sings in Inuktitut, as well as English and French.

Indigenous language education rights

In Canada, all levels of government have failed to provide adequate access to education in Indigenous languages, even in regions where Indigenous Peoples form the majority.

In Nunavik, where Elisapie is from, 90 per cent of the population (12,590 out of 14,050) identifies as Inuit and 87 per cent (12,245 out of 14,050) report Inuktitut as their first language. And yet Inuktitut is only the primary language of instruction up until Grade 3.

About promoting Inuktitut, Sarah says:

We’re lucky that in most of the villages in Nunavik, the language is still strong. But it’s still concerning that some people have started speaking in English to their kids. What we really need to promote it is to have school in Inuktitut from kindergarten to the end of high school [secondary 5 in Québec]. That’s why a group of Inuit teachers, including me, visited Greenland to learn more about their education system. They’ve had schools in their language for almost 200 years. We just started in the ‘50s.

While bilingualism may bring economic benefits, the lack of support for Indigenous languages often results in a situation where bilingualism robs children of the chance to fully develop in their first language.

Right to education in Indigenous language

In addition to violating Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right to get an education in their language (see the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), current education policies also go against recommendations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

UNESCO recommends that Indigenous minority languages be taught as the primary language in school for the first six to eight years, as this has been shown to contribute to children’s well-being and self-esteem.

Unfortunately, Canada’s official language laws continue to place the two colonial languages of English and French above Indigenous languages, particularly in education funding.

Read more: Ancestral languages are essential to Indigenous identities in Canada

New challenges have also emerged for maintaining and extending the domains in which Inuktitut is used. Once cut off from high-speed internet, new satellite technology has brought access to more Inuit communities, along with new economic opportunities.

However, this connectivity also brings an avalanche of English content, from viral videos and streaming platforms to social networks and mobile games.

Vital for promoting Inuktitut

It is in this changing linguistic and media landscape where Inuktitut language and cultural production, like Elisapie’s album, are vital for promoting Inuktitut.

Children and teenagers need content that speaks to them — things they see as new, fun, cool and representing their generation. This includes music, comic books, novels, video games and even Hockey Night in Canada in Inuktitut.

So whether Elisapie’s music is being played in community radio stations, featured in an episode of CBC’s North of North or streamed as a music video on social media, it serves the added role of taking up a little more space for Inuktitut in people’s daily lives.

Richard Compton receives funding in the form of research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Transmission and Knowledge of the Inuit Language.

Sarah Angiyou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Streaming guide JustWatch has revealed the top 10 movies streaming in Canada. Topping the Canadian streaming charts is Sean Baker’s Academy Award-winning comedy-drama film Anora starring Mikey Madison, which is available now in Canada on Prime Video.

“Anora, a young woman from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.”

In second and third place are Wicked (Prime Video) and The Substance (MUBI).

For previous updates on the most popular movies and TV shows streaming in Canada right now, please click here.

For our latest in film and TV, please visit our Film & TV section.

The post Anora is the #1 movie streaming in Canada appeared first on Cult MTL.

The RCMP arrested two people at a traffic stop Thursday and found suspected cocaine, cash and “other items consistent with possession for the purpose of trafficking," police said Thursday.

The opening of a provincial treatment centre and homeless shelter in London has been delayed as operators say they're still ironing out the final details with the Ontario government.

A provincial emergency overnight shelter and Community Outreach Centre will continue operating in its current location within Charlottetown despite a city council vote earlier this week, P.E.I.'s housing minister says. 

Indigenous leaders are demanding action as Canada's federal election heats up, hoping their peoples' past sacrifices to secure and defend this country aren't forgotten in the trade and affordability focused campaign.

If there’s one thing the former head of Canada’s public service wants Canadians to know right now, it's that their country still has a government. “Whether during prorogation, during dissolution, there’s always a functional government with its powers and its duties and obligations,” Michael Wernick said.

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

The Associated Press

Maintenance costs are growing at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal's east end while construction for the long-awaited modernization project appears to be delayed — again.

Plans to upgrade the arena in Grunthal have reached the next phase. 

In January of last year, plans were announced for a significant upgrade to the arena. The project included building a new lobby, new seating and concession area, constructing four new dressing rooms, upgrading electrical systems, adding storage, and making the building more accessible.

Then in October, the Rural Municipality of Hanover applied for a federal grant and in doing so, expanded the scope of the project. In addition to the planned improvements announced in January, they would also like to build a tractor shed, add a new electric ice resurfacer (commonly referred to as a Zamboni), improve insulation in the existing building, and add a new ammonia ice plant.

The project is estimated to cost $4.5 million. The RM of Hanover has committed $2.5 million, and the goal is to raise $2 million through private-sector funding. 

Curtis Dawydiuk is the Grunthal-area Councillor for Hanover. He says the community of Grunthal has already raised over 50 per cent of the required $2 million, through a community fundraising drive. As a result, Council for the RM of Hanover has agreed to proceed with phase one of the rehabilitation project and has authorized Administration to move to the next step in the process by securing a design engineer for this project. 

"We reached a really exciting milestone earlier this month with exceeding the halfway point of our fundraising goal of $2 million," says Dawydiuk. "It's super exciting."

The municipality has also applied for both a federal and provincial grant. Dawydiuk says that because of the federal election blackout period, they will not hear anything from the federal government until after April 28th. 

Dawydiuk says the goal is still to put shovel in the ground in March of 2026. 

"It's very aggressive for sure," he admits. 

According to Dawydiuk, the momentum for this project has really picked up recently. He notes there is a lot of energy and excitement within the fundraising group. On behalf of Hanover Council, he says a big thank you to all those who have already made a contribution. 

"It takes a village to raise a child," says Dawydiuk. "It takes a village to keep rec facilities going."

Dawydiuk says the fact they already have more than $1 million in pledges speaks to the need for the improvements. He notes it also speaks to the fact that the arena is more than just a sheet of ice. 

"It's a community centre," he says. "It's a true hub of the community."

Meanwhile, an arena renewal fundraiser is being planned for Saturday, April 26th at the Grunthal Arena. Tickets are $25 per person. Dawydiuk says they will have food trucks and entertainment, including The Dumpster Fires, The Good 'Ol Boys, and comedian Matt Falk. 

A Newfoundland-based trucking company says a good place to start reducing trade barriers within Canada would be his industry where rules and regulations are all over the place.

Chris Hollett, the owner of Akita Equipment, says he got a call from one of his drivers in Quebec this week who was cited for a violation. His rig was a half-metre too long, a ticket which cost the company over $700.

Trouble is, says Hollett, the transport truck is well within the limitations of every other jurisdiction in Canada.

He says that’s not the only aspect of trucking in which the provinces should put their heads together and develop a unified system.

He might need to have a different revolving light in Quebec than in Nova Scotia; maximum weight might vary from province to province and all that makes it more expensive and difficult for companies to operate, he says.

Police in Halifax now say the man featured in a photo released to the public on Wednesday is no longer a suspect in the case of a fake bomb found outside Halifax city hall.

On Wednesday morning, police responded to a suspicious package at Grande Parade. The package turned out to be a fake improvised explosive device that posed no danger to the public, police said at the time.

Later in the day police released a photo of a man who was a suspect in the case, but on Thursday afternoon police said they were mistaken.

“With the assistance of the public, police located and interviewed the individual this morning,” read a release from Halifax Regional Police. “While the man had encountered the package, police no longer believe he is a suspect.”

The investigation into the case is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to reach out to police.

Proposed legislation in British Columbia to give the cabinet sweeping powers to respond to threats from foreign governments amid Canada’s tariff fight is getting more pushback from businesses as the Greens meet with the government about their concerns.

BC Chamber of Commerce President Fiona Famulak says in a letter to Premier David Eby and Attorney General Niki Sharma that the legislation known as Bill 7 lacks “guardrails” and allows the government to make nearly any change it wants to provincial laws “with the stroke of a pen.”

Famulak says in the letter released Wednesday that the bill is a “step in the wrong direction for democratic institutions” and without accountability to the legislature when changes are made, the government is unacceptably requiring British Columbians to “move forward on faith and trust alone.”

Bill 7 would give the cabinet powers to respond to challenges from the actions of a foreign jurisdiction, or for a purpose “supporting the economy of British Columbia and Canada” without requiring debate in the legislature, something Eby says is required to respond swiftly to threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The bill is expected to be debated for the first time when politicians return to Victoria next week and is the first major test for Eby’s government, which holds a majority of only one seat.

The BC Green Party, which signed a confidence agreement with Eby’s New Democrats, says its representatives continue to meet with the government this week over Bill 7.

Interim Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote said in a statement last week that Bill 7 in its current form has “vague wording” and “could allow for sweeping economic decisions without clear limits or transparency.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2025

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press