(OTTAWA) The federal government on Wednesday released its action plan on implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Its release coincides with National Indigenous Peoples Day and follows feedback the government received on a draft of its plan in April.
In April, the government presented its draft to indigenous leaders at a special assembly of the Assembly of First Nations, organized in April precisely on the national action plan of the United Nations Declaration.
They formally asked Ottawa for further consultation, and a lawyer who worked with the assembly on the issue said the document contained too much “non-binding wording”.
Justice Minister David Lametti admitted that the draft action plan was not perfect and that there was a lot of room for improvement.
The minister stressed on Wednesday that the document had been the subject of “intense” discussions following the meeting and that new measures had been added.
Although the publication of the document does not come with a new financial commitment, Mr. Lametti indicated that this question would be examined later.
The Liberal government now says the action plan contains 131 actions it intends to take to advance the rights of first nations, Inuit and Métis.
These measures include the joint development of an approach to combating anti-Indigenous racism and guidance regarding the involvement of Indigenous peoples in the development of resource exploitation projects.
The government had passed a law in 2021, which required it to return to Parliament by June 2023 with an implementation plan.
Mr Lametti said the two-year deadline was “ambitious” and had been requested by Perry Bellegarde, the former national leader of the Assembly.
“We did it,” he told a crowd of Indigenous leaders gathered in Ottawa for the release of the report.
“It is a historic moment. »
Mr. Lametti added that the document was not perfect and that it was not designed to be “static”.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller echoed the remarks, saying it was just the start of a process.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller
However, the Congress of Indigenous Peoples circulated an open letter to Mr. Lametti on Wednesday, saying he had been left out of the process.
“It is not enough to say that we are consulting and cooperating with indigenous peoples, as these documents claim,” reads the letter signed by the congressional leaders.
The Government of Canada must listen, be inclusive and take action on the information provided by Indigenous peoples.
Excerpt from a letter signed by the leaders of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations said Wednesday that he is among the chiefs concerned that the action plan, as currently drafted, will not be at height.
He added, however, that it was a first step.
“Let’s take this step together,” he added. Nothing good comes easily. »
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed said the UN declaration upheld the existing human rights of Inuit and other indigenous peoples, which successive governments have ignored.
“Our rights are not second-class rights,” he concluded.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada ratified in 2010, affirms the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination and to their language, culture and traditional lands. It also specifies the need for the “prior, free and informed” consent of indigenous peoples on anything that could affect their lands or their rights.
Former Quebec New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash then introduced two private member’s bills to the Commons to implement this UN Declaration. The first bill was defeated at second reading in 2014, in the House, under the Conservatives, and the second was stopped in the Senate just before the election was called in 2019.
The Liberals then essentially picked up Mr. Saganash’s bill, introducing it to the Commons as a government bill.