STATEMENT

by

Ambassador Paul Meyer
Head of Delegation

Working Group on the Draft Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

to the
1ST SESSION
of the
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Geneva. 29 June, 2006

Mr. President,

Canada wishes to acknowledge and express appreciation for the contribution of all participants in the Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the important role that Canadian, as well as other indigenous organizations have played in this process. We would also acknowledge the patience and efforts of Luis-Enrique Chavez, the Chairperson-Rapporteur, in guiding the Working Group and recommending a text for approval.

For many States and indigenous representatives, the text before us is an acceptable outcome. This is not the case for Canada.

Earlier this week, Canada spoke about the need for this Council to authorize further consultations on the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The aim of these consultations would have been to clarify substantive issues and to develop specific proposals to achieve the broadest possible agreement and to report back to the Human Rights Council.

Regrettably, this proposal did not receive the necessary support, even though Canada, some other countries, and a few indigenous representatives noted in their statements difficulties with a process where proposed language on several key issues had not been discussed by all parties. Canada had said that we thought that further improvements were both possible and necessary and that we wanted some more time to work with other states and indigenous peoples to arrive at a document that could be adopted by consensus before this Council forwarded the Draft Declaration to the General Assembly for adoption.

Particularly in the past few years, work on the Draft Declaration has shown that State and indigenous representatives from around the world can work together, that we can put aside our differences in order to pursue a common goal.

As Canada has said before, Canada has worked for a Declaration that would promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of every indigenous person without discrimination and recognize the collective rights of indigenous peoples around the world.

To be truly effective, a Declaration must clearly set out expectations for the States in which indigenous peoples actually live. Unfortunately, portions of the text presented to this Council do not meet this test. For example:

• the current provisions on lands, territories and resources are broad, unclear and capable of a wide variety of interpretations. They could be interpreted to support claims to broad ownership rights over traditional territories, even where rights to such territories were lawfully ceded by treaty;
• the provisions could also hinder our land claims processes in Canada, whereby Aboriginal land and resource rights are premised on balancing the rights of Aboriginal peoples with those of other Canadians, within the Canadian constitutional framework - our framework for working together;
• the concept of free, prior and informed consent is used in many contexts within the Draft Declaration. It could be interpreted as giving a veto to indigenous peoples over many administrative matters, legislation, development proposals and national defence activities which concern the broader population and may affect indigenous peoples;
• in relation to self-government provisions, the text does not provide effective guidance about how indigenous governments might work with other levels of government, including laws of overriding national importance and matters of financing.

Consultations with Canada's provinces and territories have revealed concerns that are similar to those of the federal government.

Canada has a long and proud tradition of not only supporting, but actively advancing, Aboriginal and treaty rights at home and is fully committed to working internationally on indigenous issues.

Regretfully, however, Canada must vote no to the text which has been put before us. For clarity, we also underline our understanding that this Declaration has no legal effect in Canada and does not represent customary international law.