Jacques Maurais is a graduate of Laval and Cambridge universities. He worked as a terminologist at the Office de la langue francaise while lecturing at Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres. Since 1980 he has been with the Conseil de la langue francaise, where he has edited La norme linguistique (in conjunction with Edith Bedard), La crise des langues, Politique et amenagement linguistiques and Langues et societes en contact (in conjunction with Pierre Martel).

• William F. Mackey: Preface to the English Edition1. Jacques Maurais: The Situation of Aboriginal Languages in the Americas2. Louis-Jacques Dorais: The Aboriginal Languages of Quebec, Past and Present3. Francois Trudel: Aboriginal Language Policies of the Canadian and Quebec Governments4. Lynn Drapeau: The State of the Art in Linguistic Research, Standardisation and Modernisation in Quebec Aboriginal Languages5. Ronald Lowe: Grammatical Sketches6. The Future of Aboriginal Languages A The Future of AlgonquinMolly Kistabish B The Future of AtikamekwMarthe CoocooC The Future of the Cree LanguageJames Babbish D Is There a Future for the Huron Language?Linda SiouiE The Future of InuktitutTaamusi Qumaq F Will the Micmac Language Survive?Romeo Labillois G The Future of MohawkMyra CreeH The Future of the Montagnais LanguageMarcelline Picard-CanapeI The Current State and the Future of the Naskapi LanguageAgnes Mackenzie and Bill Jancewitz7. Lynn Drapeau and Jean-Claude Corbeil: The Aboriginal Languages in the Perspective of Language Planning