Canada is suffering from a willing state of disillusionment. Often promoted as the picture of multicultural perfection, Canada has consistently placed high on the United Nation’s yearly ranking of countries. But Canada’s indigenous peoples know a far less Utopian country.

According to a report by anti-child-poverty action group Campaign 2000, “among Aboriginal children, whether living on or off reserves, almost one in two lives in poverty. In urban centres, the living conditions of many Aboriginal families continues to deteriorate — even most basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are not being met. Aboriginal people are four times as likely to report ever experiencing hunger than the non-Aboriginal population.”

It’s a reality that the Canadian government doesn’t like to cop to. Study it, sure. Commission a Royal Commission? No problem. But action is harder to come by. So, native rights activists have taken their case to that deemer of all things internationally important itself, the U.N.

Dirty Secrets

Native Canadians are no strangers to the international community, nor to the U.N. Activists have been expressing their concerns to the famed international body since 1996. Nevertheless, demands of Canada that emerged from those complaints — faster resolutions to land claim issues, improvements in the lives of Aboriginals on and off reserves — have, for the most part, still not been met.

The boldest demand for change came five years later at last summer’s UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa. Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Chief Matthew Coon Come made a daring address condeming racism in Canada and the marginalization this country’s First Nations people face as an everyday reality.

Back home, Coon Come stood by his words: “I was criticized by the Minister of Indian Affairs when I mentioned in Durban the systemic racism facing First Nations citizens in Canada. Unlike the minister, Canadians and their Royal Commissions recognize the racism facing us. In a federal survey (November 2001) more than six out of ten Canadians stated that eliminating racism against First Nations people would improve their social and economic conditions. Canadians are aware of, and sensitive to, our human rights issues, and this was my message in South Africa.”

Still No Action

Although Coon Come’s comments made media headlines and ruffled some feathers in the Canadian government — most notably Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault who said that while he would take the “accusations seriously,” he “was not just annoyed, but beside himself” — not much has changed.

So again, native rights activists took their cause to the U.N. In August, a delegation approached the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racism (CERD) as the committee was receiving a report from the Canadian government on its progress in implementing plans that would improve the lives of Canadian First Nation citizens.

The CERD reprimanded the Canadian government for its failure to act on its promises. Committee members cited the federal government’s failure to consult with First Nation groups about the Governance initiative, discriminatory provisions of the Indian Act, non-implementation of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples(RCAP) recommendations and the Delgamuukw decision, the lack of an inquiry into Ipperwash and the negative impact of Bill C-31.

CERD members paid special attention to Ottawa’s Comprehensive Claims policy and its continuing effort to extinguish Aboriginal Title, which, activists say, violates both the Canadian Supreme Court and international human rights law.

The committee findings have added momentum to the fight for Aboriginal justice. “The experts seem to have a greater understanding of the root causes of our peoples’ problems than the government of Canada,” said Ravyn Godwin, an Indigenous activist who represents the Skwelkwek’welt Protection Center.

Asits’ Amniyaak (from the Nuxalk Nation) also felt positively about the CERD’s findings. “This helps break down Canada’s illusion of being a human rights champion. It is apparent that racism against Indigenous peoples runs rampant in Canada. It is unfortunate that Indigenous peoples are required to shame Canada on the international stage before Canada acts to correct any of the injustices.”

Of the many concluding observations from the CERD committee, one stands out as most important to Aboriginal activists:

“The Committee views with concern the direct connection between Aboriginal economic marginalization and the ongoing dispossession of Aboriginal people from their land, as recognized by the Royal Commission.”

Sharon Menow (Norway House Cree Nation), from the Coalition for an Ipperwash Inquiry, was pleased with the particular attention to Aboriginal title and land rights. “So many of our issues stem from land disputes, including the murder of Dudley George who was fighting for the rights of the Stoney Point people for their traditional territory and for the protection of their burial ground.”

The violence and lack of police and governmental accountability that often accompany treaty and land claim disputes — from Sun Peaks Resorts in British Columbia to Ipperwash in Ontario to Burnt Church in New Brunswick — makes native rights activists and supporters wary. Robin Buyers, a First Nations activists who spoke at a recent remembrance service for Dudley George, said, “People who stand up for land claims are repeatedly criminalized, and in the case of Dudley George, even killed.”

There has been no inquiry into the death of Dudley George, despite an instruction from the United Nations Human Rights Committee for Canada to do so in 1999. The U.N. makes recommendations but cannot enforce them. While this illustrates the key weakness of attempting to use U.N. mechanisms for change, it doesn’t mean U.N. declarations are without teeth. Drawing international attention can be a powerful source of change.

In Canada’s Defence

The delegation representing Canada to the CERD responded to the criticisms by highlighting the positive moves they have made. While the committee expressed concern with the lack of response to the accusations, it did praise Canada for its ongoing commitment to human rights through documents like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for offering a “Statement of Reconciliation” — an apology in which Canada declared“profound regret for the historic injustice committed against Aboriginal people in the country.”

The Canadian delegates also highlighted a series of development projects, including the Aboriginal Justice Initiative and pledging money to help deliver “adequate housing and clean water” to rural Aboriginal communities. More aid has been promised in the recent federal throne speech with specific budget details to follow.

A Place at the Table

At another U.N. conference this July, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations discussion focussed on “Indigenous Peoples and their right to development, including their right to participate in developments affecting them.”

John Sinclair, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, said, “At the outset, Canada wishes to repeat clearly its support for the promotion and protection of the right to development as outlined in the Declaration on the Right to Development. Canada continues to believe in the importance of productive discussions on the right to development. As noted before this Working Group last year, Canada believes that the right to development provides an important linkage between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.”

Native right activists in Canada, though, haven’t seen this commitment in practice. “We have all these white-collar guys telling us what’s good for us and meanwhile, our people are getting murdered. They’re working on the First Nations Governance Act, but we’re excluded from the dialogue. I don’t understand why; we have our own academics and scholars who could look over the document, but we’re not allowed to be part of the process in that way,” said Menow.

The world beyond the U.N.

Menow notes the value of the work of activists at the U.N.: “The CERD recommendations give us good lobbying power. On an international level, Canada is heralded as a human rights champion, but European and Asian investors, for instance, may have reservations in investing in forestry for fear of lawsuits (based on treaty and land claims, such as the situation at Sun Peaks Resort, in British Colombia).”

Exposing the Canadian government’s poor social, economic and human rights practices to the international stage is a match held to gasoline, a strategic threat directed towards those who have the power to turn around some of the adverse situations Aboriginal Canadians face on and off reserves.

It is also an international incident, an embarrassment, to a small, conciliatorycountry that relies heavily on its reputation to get by on the world stage.

Krystalline Kraus

krystalline kraus is an intrepid explorer and reporter from Toronto, Canada. A veteran activist and journalist for rabble.ca, she needs no aviator goggles, gas mask or red cape but proceeds fearlessly...