Indigenous Groups Slam Canada at UN
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (OneWorld) - The Canadian government has drawn fierce condemnation from the world's indigenous communities for its refusal to sign an international document that recognizes native people's right to self-determination.
Tauli-Corpuz and other indigenous leaders from across the world seemed particularly disappointed with the Canadian stance because Canada is one of the countries that played a key role in the formation of the UN Forum on Indigenous Issues. The 16-member Forum, which is an advisory body, is currently holding its seventh annual meeting in New York. The key task for the meeting is to explore what further steps can be taken to strengthen the role of indigenous communities in the fight against climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Indigenous leaders have consistently argued that no international efforts for environmental protection can be successful if they also undermine the rights of native people. According to the United Nations, there are more than 370 million indigenous people worldwide who live in close proximity to nature and posses intimate knowledge about numerous species of plants and animals. To scientists, their role in efforts to preserve biodiversity is indispensable. But many governments think otherwise. The Canadian government, like the United States, opposes the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples because it calls for both governments and private businesses to obtain prior and informed consent of indigenous communities in order to use their lands and resources.
To indigenous leaders, this line of reasoning is highly questionable because the Declaration contains the most comprehensive provisions that exist in any international human rights instrument regarding indigenous people. For example, Article 46 of the UN Declaration states that every provision must be interpreted "in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, and good faith." "These are the core principles and values of not only Canada's constitution, but also the international system that it has championed," said an open letter signed by a dozen Canadian scholars specializing in constitutional law and indigenous rights. The letter described the government's refusal to accept the Declaration as "shameful." The signers called for the Canadian government to "cease publicizing its misleading claims," and implement the Declaration without any further delay. In response to the letter circulated among the UN officials and more than 3,000 delegates who have come from across the world, a Canadian official tried to repair the damage at a news conference Thursday, but seemingly failed to explain why Ottawa was not signing the Declaration. "The government has taken unprecedented steps in protecting aboriginal human rights and improving the quality of life of indigenous peoples," Canada's Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl told reporters. Strahl noted the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the imminent launch of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well the application of human rights laws to the country's native people. Canada's indigenous leaders see these measures -- and the government's argument on collective versus individual rights -- from a totally different perspective, largely because their concept of indigenous people's "development" is quite opposite to the government's. "I see that after 500 years, colonialism is still very much alive in Canada," said Chief Picard of the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador. "In spite of the existence of our ancestral rights, the reality is that the governments continue to alienate our territories, and to deny, or extinguish without hesitation, our rights and our titles." To Picard and other indigenous leaders of Canada, it's not for the Canadian government to decide what kind of development their people need, it's the right of the indigenous communities to choose their own way of life. "Canada's economy is based on the colonial doctrine of discovery," said Chief Arthur Manuel of the Indigenous Network of Economies and Trade, an organization based in British Columbia. "It's all about stealing land from the indigenous people. It doesn't want to recognize the Declaration because [the Declaration] recognizes our human rights." OneWorld TV: The Land Owns Us
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"Indigenous groups slam Canada at UN"Author:
Lise Brouillette
Time: 05/03/2008 04:54
Comment: I find it paradoxical that Canada, who generally treats its Native population better than the USA, has refused to sign a document that was passed by the same USA. Perhaps Harper feels Natives could then use this approval as fodder for getting yet more compensation, and that Natives are costing him enough as it is - not that it's a good excuse. Canada will have to spend anyway and this is costing plenty in bad press. Considering the bad rap we've already been getting on toxic emissions, it's not a good idea.
Strange, really. Canada's Natives are very present in the media. TV and newspapers cover the events - we do read about this blocade and that water emergency, as well as in-debt coverage of important Native issues. The US media is TOTALLY SILENT about Natives, it's like they don't even exist. |
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