Address by
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
National Chief Patrick Brazeau
to the 7th Session of the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
New York City, NY, USA
April 30, 2008
{Check Against Delivery}
Good day to everyone.
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is the national political organization in Canada that advocates on behalf of the rights and interests of Aboriginal people living off-reserve across our country.
Recent Census of Canada data indicates that – for people who identify themselves as Aboriginal, only 26% live on Indian Act reserves. Thus, the clear majority of Canada’s Aboriginal population lives off-reserve in urban, rural and remote areas across the country.
Canada’s colonial and paternalistic Indian Act stands as a sad monument to human rights violations against its Aboriginal people. The Indian Act discriminates against Canada’s Indigenous population in three specific ways:
First, the Indian Act divides Aboriginal peoples – communities and families – into those who are “entitled” and “not entitled” to be recognized for the purpose of gaining access to government services.
Some groups of Aboriginal Canadians, notably the Métis and Non-Status Indians fall entirely outside of the Indian Act and are marginalized by Canada as a result.
Secondly, the Government of Canada relies on the geographic boundaries of the reserve system to define their Constitutional responsibility for Aboriginal programs and services. As proven by census data, Canada’s Aboriginal population is highly mobile.
Many people leave their reserves and migrate into urban centers to obtain education and medical services, to seek employment, or to escape situations of violence, social dysfunction and lack of hope and opportunity. Their exercising of this choice, sadly, forces them to abandon their Aboriginal and Treaty rights at the reserve boundary.
Finally, the Indian Act is the only piece of federal legislation in Canada that is exempt from the application of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The necessity for the exemption, which is known as section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is clear and unequivocal proof that the Indian Act discriminates against First Nations people, particularly with respect to race and gender.
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has intervened in several court cases that challenge the constitutionality of the Indian Act. These include the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision rendered in the Corbiere case (which extended voting rights for off-reserve registered Indians), the Sawridge and MacIvor cases (both of which challenge the Indian Act’s registration provisions). CERD and the UN Human Rights Committee have denounced these provisions.
We are also litigants in our own right in the case Daniels v. Canada, which seeks equal recognition for Métis and Non-Status Indians who, as I have indicated, are outside of the Indian Act.
Madam Chairperson, there is a great deal of debate about the fundamental human rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. We stand firm with our Indigenous brothers and sisters in our shared belief and conviction that the Canadian government needs to revisit its position and accept the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We are encouraged by the Government of Canada’s efforts to remove the Indian Act exemption from the Canadian Human Rights Act. If successful, this would, by consequence, implement the recommendation of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Indigenous peoples.
Unfortunately, it has been most frustrating to watch this process unfold. Partisanship in the extreme is influencing the process. It seems apparent that some legislators are more interested in promoting the lack of human rights for Canada’s First Nations people in international forums than they are at ensuring First Nations people actually have equal access to human rights redress mechanisms in domestic matters.
The issue at the heart of this matter, once again, is the Indian Act and the confounding reluctance of some Aboriginal leaders and non-Aboriginal politicians to force it into full scrutiny and eventual compliance with the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Let me be clear, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is committed to the full recognition, protection and guarantees of Indigenous peoples’ fundamental human rights – both internationally and at home.
Our organization has been consistent in its message. We fully support the Government of Canada in its effort to repeal section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act in a way that retains a focus on fundamental human rights for all, with no exceptions.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PERMENENT FORUM:
In conclusion, we reiterate the need for the Permanent Forum to request that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous peoples undertake a study on the rights of urban indigenous people, paying particular attention to their ability to exercise and enjoy their economic and social rights at the 8th session of the Permanent Forum.
The themes that can and should be considered in the study include, but are not limited to, the areas of cultural identity, equitable access to essential services, border issues and the challenges facing Indigenous youth.
Meegwetch, thank you, merci.
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For further information, please contact:
Al Fleming
Director
Public Affairs
613-747-6022 (office)
613-867-8696 (mobile)
al@abo-peoples.org
