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Will Canada Commit to Indigenous Rights?

News release

MONTREAL – Sept. 10, 2004 – Prime Minister Paul Martin's government must seize the opportunity presented by next week's discussions on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to help right what Mr. Martin himself has called Canada's ?national disgrace.?

To date, the Canadian government's interest in seeing a consensus reached and the Declaration ratified has been tepid. Canada's insistence on numerous amendments to the document, which was drafted over a 12-year period by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, has contributed to the fact only two of the Declaration's 45 articles have been adopted since discussions began in 1995.

"There has been a disconcerting lack of political will on behalf of the Canadian government to see the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ratified," said Jean-Louis Roy, President of Rights & Democracy. "In the coming days, the Canadian government must decide whether it wants to be an agent of positive change or contribute to the further marginalization of more than 300-million indigenous people around the world."

A change in attitude is needed now and it is Rights & Democracy's hope Mr. Martin has the will and the conscience to see that such a change takes place. Canada's current attitude is reflected in a counter-productive insistence on wholesale amendments to sections of the Declaration concerning lands, territories, resources and the right to self-determination, a tactic espoused in concert with representatives from Australia and supported by the United States and the United Kingdom. Rights & Democracy calls on the Canadian government to reconsider such alliances in favour of working toward a consensus in partnership with organizations from and experts on Canada's indigenous peoples and State representatives committed to a progressive stand on indigenous rights.

Altering the Canadian government's attitude toward the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples would be a positive first step toward convincing Canada's indigenous peoples that this government is serious when it say it does not intend to fail them as previous governments have.